Inside: Singing the flood year blues, planting by the old-timers almanac, and buffalo gnats, can you not come out tonight.
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Singing the Flood Year Blues
Life takes some getting used to in a flood year. Beyond the obvious–water, water everywhere–depending how close you are to a major river, or even a minor river that empties into a major one, your life is disrupted, which can be dire and drastic or simply a nuisance. Roads are closed and routes to work, school, shopping, life are detoured. For Hubs that means nearly double the miles–and gas money–just to head to his job.
Wildlife comes in close and personal, which means more deer and coon and possums sighted–and dead along the highway. I even saw a beaver quickly scamper over a highway to woods on the other side. I’ve spotted river otters swimming close in the swollen waters threatening to cover my only way out. Egrets and herons are enjoying their new extended fishing holes.
And the insects? Do you really want to know? Mosquitos are also celebrating better eats–namely us! The water brings them in close, and this year something I never encountered in all my 53 years–biting gnats! They get their own write-up in this post. (See below.) Just being out in the yard has been frustrating at times if I’m not sprayed up with insect repellent.
The fields, too, show signs of neglect simply because it’s hard to get a tractor in to work wet ground. So I’m not really sure just how high all the corn will be in July. And it would be nice to cut hay–if we could find three dry days in a row to do it!
But all this pales in comparison with the folks who find themselves homeless because of flooding. Nuisances and irritations will go away after a while. Losing a home is devastating. At times like these it takes communities coming together, filling sandbags and making sandwiches. Dispensing diapers. Handing out hugs.
And prayer. Much, much prayer.
Please keep us in yours.
The Old-timers Almanac
As the old-timers unofficial planting date of May 15 came and went with me still rushing around, trying to get my plants in the ground, I remembered this post from two years ago and wanted to revisit it.
When I was a kid, I heard a lot about old-timers. The old-timers say never plant garden before May 15. The old-timers say lard makes the best pie crust. The old-timers say a bargain isn’t a bargain unless you need it. . . .
I’d see them everywhere, these old-timers. Farm supply stores. The old mercantile with the floors that creaked. County fairs and festivals. A bench in the shade on Main Street. They were our sages. Weathered. Seasoned. These men and women connected us to wisdom from another day. Sound, practical, downright stubborn advice in the face of everything modern.
I remember being in awe of these folks, particularly when they took a moment to notice me. Sometimes a pat on the head. Other times a simple “You must be Gary and Ann’s girl.”
Old-timer sightings are rare these days. Like passenger pigeon rare. Why is that? Underappreciated? Micro-managed from well-meaning family members or the “it’s for your own good” crowd? Less welcome in the market place?
What does that say to our children and grandchildren? I realize kids are busy these days, with schedules rivaling a CEO, but it seems to me we’re losing something valuable. Old skills, practical solutions. Tried and true remedies. Connection to those who have gone before us.
I propose we do something different. Try talking to these voices of experience. Ask a simple question. Start with relatives and neighbors. Folks from church. Plenty of gold to be mined there.
God willing, we’ll be old-timers someday.
Buffalo Gnats, Can You Not Come Out Tonight?
Mosquitoes, move over! You’ve been supplanted by an even more brutal beast–the buffalo gnat, aka black fly. I must have led a sheltered life because my only prior experience with gnats were the kind that tried to fly into my eyes and nose. Irritating, yes, but nobody bit. So when I got these large welts on my ears, the back of my neck, and under my chin, I just assumed they were mosquito bites. But unlike mosquito bites, these didn’t go away by next morning. No, they itched like crazy, and the bites remained for several days. In fact it took about a week to get over them. At times the itching was so intense it kept me awake.
Ugh! Talk about flood year blues!
A week or so earlier Mike had told me about seeing large swarms of gnats along flooded Highway 79 on his way home from work, but we didn’t think anything of it. Not long after, every time I went out in the yard, my hand remained in perpetual swatting mode just to keep the crazies from nibbling on me. Things got so bad that I found I just didn’t want to go outside, which is so unlike my summer self.
Fortunately I found this all natural bug spray with the pleasing scent of vanilla and mint. Buffalo gnats hate vanilla! Who knew? I like this stuff for several reasons. It smells great, feels cool and refreshing, and it actually works! That said, you do need to reapply if you sweat a lot, so just keep the spray bottle handy. I close my eyes and spritz my face and back of my neck and head every so often. Good stuff!
To my fellow Mississippi River neighbors, I feel your pain, but at least now I’m not scratching gnat bites.
What’s happening in your neck of the woods? Tell me about it in the comments.
Related posts:
Gardening Advice from a Thirty-year Greenhouse Veteran
Plant Shopping, Yard Jungle, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
Weed Beauty, Unusual Gifts, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
Neighborly Encouragement and the Power of Flowers
Posts from a year ago:
A Simple Fruit Dip for Strawberries, Plus 5 Ways to Use Up the Harvest
Posts from two years ago: