  Okay, I feel the need to haul out one of my soapboxes. Today's issue: mosquitos . First, a little background. About a year ago, I moved here to Corpus Christi, Texas from southern New Jersey, where I had lived all my previous life. Now, we certainly have mosquitos in Jersey, and they can definitely be aggressively thick at times, but down here it's bloody (pun intended) ridiculous!
I've always been the kind of person that mosquitos love (or hate, I'm not sure of their point of view); stick me in a group of people, and I'll get bitten ten times for every single bite the others individuals receive. Also, I develop these huge, quarter-sized raised welts that itch like a mad motherfucker; and after about three days, the bites start itching again! My ankles and feet are covered with scars from old bites, because I just can't stop myself from scratching myself raw and bloody. As you can see, I am more than justified in loathing these blood-sucking bitches. So what did I do?
I moved to what must be the mosquito captial of the US, where batillions descend upon me the very instant I step outside. Brilliant! And this occurs virtually year-round! Now, most days I have an interior dialogue with myself, about how I should just resign myself to the situation, since pissing and moaning about it won't change it. However, there are some days -- like today -- where I just have to bitch. Why today? Well, for the first time in months it was actually cool this morning, cooler outside than it was in the house, in fact.
Very pleasant. But did that keep the mosquitos at bay? Pshaw, don't be naive! Anyway, my plight has led me to develop a theory. You know how, when kids reach a certain age, they start to find the prevalance of mall Santas a bit suspicious? And further, parents sometimes attempt to allay their kids' concerns by explaining that the Santa in the mall isn't the real Santa Claus -- of course not, ha ha -- but rather a man who works for Santa ?
After all, Santa is very busy, and it only makes sense that he has some assistance in taking care of all the children in the world. Well, I've come to believe that, in a similar fashion, mosquitos are the employees of Satan. Yep, they are the Devil's minions, hired to cultivate a persisent, low-level antagonism in their hapless victims, which over time, makes people more susceptible to commiting evil themselves.
I know that, after a particularly bad mosquito attack, I am in a foul mood for the rest of the day, and would enjoy nothing more than to spread my pain and misery around to others. It's an insidious little plot, don't you think? Oh well, on to other matters ... I like to give a shout out to urlLink Queenie , with enormous, candy-coated thanks for being the first visitor to my blog to post a comment. It totally made my day, and yes, I suppose that does mean I am easy. But not cheap! Of course, I immediately went to her blog and took a browse around.
I was so impressed, I added a link to her blog urlLink THE BUS "Tales from the 2A Dundas" to my sidebar here. It's a form of observational journal-writing that has been elevated to the next level. As she rides the bus to and from school, she people-watches, observing and imagining about the other riders on the bus. From what she takes in, she creates these unique musings about these strangers that are almost like short short-stories. Very absorbing. 
