Ashes vs the Bugs: round 2

Most of you know about my encounters with Scorpions.

Well, I haven't seen a single scorpion in nearly a week or so. None have been hiding out in my shoes or crawling around in my bedding or anything! It's been great!

However with the advent of summer a new problem has arisen. Sink gnats, beetles, giant ants, and along with them spiders. Maybe it's because I've never really lived in the American Countryside (though I totally count Alsdorf and Wolsfeld as the middle of bloody nowhere Germany) so I'm not used to this kind of stuff, or maybe I just need to call the Orkin Man for my brother in law. Either way I found out that stepping on a stink beetle while cooking and having it stick to the bottom of my foot (uncrushed and with his little legs kicking up a storm) kind of makes me scream like a little girl.
Nonstinging things have recently started to think my body heat is nice. And I have no idea what made a meal of my waist line. But it had to stop.

Hahahaha! Lucky me Will found a secret weapon: moth balls. turns out they're not just for moths. They can keep away everything from scorpions to snakes and then some. And so far it's worked. I'm loving my clean creepy crawly free bed.

Ashes vs Bugs: Ashes wins!

Summer's Gifts

Mosquitoes...
I'm allergic; though not in the puff up and die sense. It's more along the lines of get bit twice near my elbow and lose 20% of my range of motion in that joint. A bite near the eye means I look like a lopsided goldfish (or at least I feel like one with a squinty eye).

Summer and Mosquitoes go together like Hotdogs and Mac-n-Cheese.

Bees...
I like honey bees. They're so cute! Recently I also developed my taste for honey (code for: my husband made me eat the icky sticky stuff so often it doesn't suck so much)so honey bees are that much more awesome.
So while driving from Will's to Daddio's when a honey bee slammed into the open window jam while I was cruising at not-so-posted speeds and ricocheted into my lap, not only was I heart broken that she was going to die, I nearly swerved into the oncoming lane; the thought of "STINGER!" screaming through my head. Surprisingly enough she slowly came to and Jex was able to send her back out the window.

84 degree weather that feels more like 104 degree weather...
Apparently while growing up I developed an affinity for cold weather and an intolerance for hot. Then again I'm pasty white with freckles, the sun is not my friend. Besides the fact that I'm a firm believer in 'if it's hot, take it off' and unfortunately there's only so much one can take off... and I don't plan on moving to a nudist colony. Wait, come to think of it.... nope still not moving to cali..er I mean a nudist colony.

Fresh Veggies...
Probably my favorite part of summer is the fresh cucumbers and wild onions that sprout up just begging to be made into a sweet and salty salad.

Slushies...
Then again I eat these bad boys year round. It is never too cold for a slushie.

Gardening...
If I had a house I would have a garden, and it would be the best dern herb and edible flower garden in all of north Georgia! Notice how I don't like growing things unless I can eat them. *haha!*

Sandals...
I can now wear my Zena sandals. Yes, I have a pair of knee high roman esque sandals and I love them. I'm so white I don't even have to worry about tiger stripe tans. Though that would be cramazingly fun. Comparing tan lines is to girls like comparing scars (or scrapes) is to guys... and I would totally win.

Get-togethers that aren't for family only...
I don't know if it's just a misconception I have from growing up so far away from most my relatives or if it's just from learning to be an adult while learning how to function in foreign cultures but most American holiday's are geared towards the family coming back together. In the summer though it's not about cleaning your house so that Aunt Gladys doesn't sneer at your 'dust and clutter' or 'making a moist turkey by God, to prove to my mother I can cook' or coming near tears when you accidentally burn the pumpkin pie... or the sleep deprivation from cooking ALL NIGHT. In the Summer you have your neighbors over for a glass of ice tea on your porch, because it's a nice day or to a little neighborhood cookout with a few families, my turn to bring dessert!
I don't know if it's like that everywhere, maybe just the south. But it makes me miss the closeness of overseas airbase communities; and 60's television shows.

Georgia Summer

It's hot and humid in Georgia, night or day, rain or shine. It almost feels as if you're walking through an invisible cloud. Everything feels damp, hair, clothes, the things you touch. I wonder how it can be so hot with so much water in the air. If it gets any more humid will I get water in my lungs?
The sun sets green and gold over the lake near my father-in-law's as my husband and I walk hand and hand in the warm evening breeze. I can hear our dog, B'rux, panting as she trots beside us. Her ears perk from time to time and she cocks her head from one side to the other as fireflies wink in and out of the blue shadows between trees and beneath Kudzu vines. The Cicada's wake up to click their distinct cries into the fading light.
And I find that I'm okay here. With my hand in my husband's bigger, hotter, hand and even as uncomfortable as I am (I really don't like being damp, wet or dry please) I'm okay. I don't need anything, but maybe a glass of cold water when we get back to the house. I'm not dwelling on the things I want, like a decent plate of Sashimi, fried Tako, or a bowl of creme of asparagus soup like they made in Germany. I'm okay here.
Tomorrow I'll wake up, exercise till I cry, and hate where I am, want a place of my own and wish for the food I ate overseas.
But for now, I'm okay, my soul is calm.
It's a nice change... I think I might just like it. (^_^)