Here Comes Summer
I’d like to begin this week with a seasonal sort of rhyme that goes sort of like this: Spring has sprung and fall has fell. Now it’s summer and it’s hotter than…heck. I bet you thought I was going to say hell, but why would I do a thing like that in a family-oriented publication like this? Oops!
If this week’s heatwave is proof enough, there’s no denying it, folks, school is out and summer has arrived with a vengeance. “Here comes summer. School is out oh happy days. Here comes summer. Gonna grab my girl and run away. If she’s willing, we’ll go steady right away. Oh, let the sun shine bright on my happy summer home.” (“Here Comes Summer” – Jerry Keller – 1959)
In case you haven’t noticed, summer’s sudden arrival has brought with it an unprecedented explosion of the annoying bug population, enough to keep an exterminator busy until the next snow flies. And, speaking of flies, we seem to have a bumper crop of deer flies in my neck of the woods, even though I haven’t seen a single deer…nor a married one either.
There also seems to be a bountiful harvest of ordinary house flies, hornets, crane flies, mosquitoes and mosquito hawks, though I could use a few more mosquito hawks right about now. The only reason I mention this is because I just finished round two of my yearly weed-whacking extravaganza and I got eaten alive by all the mosquitoes, not to mention the deer flies. I sure wish they made deer fly hawks.
I guess I don’t have to tell you the ants are on the march again. And all of those “flying ants” you’ve seen swarming…sorry to disappoint you, but they’re not ants, they’re termites. I suppose I’m lucky, I’ve never had any problems with these pests…except for the time my brother put termites in my Lincoln Logs.
Soon those cute little green “Stealth Fighter” bugs will be dive-bombing my desk lamp again. I don’t know what they are, but they are shiny, green and triangular. And speaking of little green bugs, the inchworms are starting to dangle from their silken threads hanging from the oak trees. Pretty soon, they will be morphing into those little white moths that try to beat you inside the house just as soon as you open the door at night. Hint…leave your porch light turned off and fewer of them will get inside.
Summertime does have its positive aspects, however. Some of my favorite summertime activities are backyard barbecues, road trips, outdoor concerts, drive-in movies, late night star-gazing in the hot tub and strolls through the woods with my “child bride.”
“Here comes summer. Feel her lips so close to mine. Here comes summer. When we meet her eyes both shine. It’s the greatest. Let’s have summer all the time. Oh, let the sun shine bright on my happy summer home.”
Keep it flyin’, Uncle Mott