Sunday, June 19, 2011

Mosquitos' Lunch With Me

Because the sun was not out today, I decided that this afternoon was perfect to paint.  I thought that because it wasn't sunny, there'd be no mosquitos.  Plus it takes a lot of time to spray bug spray, so I thought I didn't need it.

And then, while getting out the ladder in the backyard, I see a mosquito hanging on my left elbow and smack ... something (not necessarily a skeeter) on the back of my neck.  Fine, bug spray it is.

I knew I was low, but I assumed I still had some left.  I didn't.  What little I had I sprayed around the cuffs of my khakis.  And when I tried spraying around my head, I didn't hear that hiss indicating the aerosol is working.  Shit.  I was reduced to getting whatever drops were still in the can by shaking it down and collecting what comes out.

It was enough.  Well, I thought it was enough.  It covered what needed covering, and for most of my afternoon painting I was fine.  But then I felt an itchy feeling on my left thigh.  Did a mosquito crawl up my leg?  Can it sting through thick pants?

Then, just as I was finishing up, I felt this sensation on my inside left wrist, where all my veins are, where one would cut oneself if you want to commit suicide.  Can you get a bite there?  And after I saw that, I saw a mosquito, a good-sized one, on my right arm.  I tried to kill it but I missed.  I think my kill rate is 5-10%.  I wish it were higher.  Could a bug's senses be faster than my swatting motion?

So I go in and see these two bumps forming on my left wrist and right arm.  I hate that.  But I didn't scratch them.  Not because I was trying to resist, but because it didn't feel like they needed to be scratched.  Weird; when I was young, whenever I got a mosquito bite I'd be tearing into my skin.  Am I somehow getting immune in my old age?

Note to self: Buy bug spray.  Could've gotten them the two times I went to Target last week.  Oh well, I'll probably be going to Target two times this week even if I didn't need mosquito repellent.

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