Naturally Annoying

In the last couple of days we finally got a break in the recent wave of humidity, which meant a chance to turn off the air conditioning and open up the windows to let some fresh air flow in. I know I like to say that air conditioning is one of the five greatest inventions of all time (because it is), but that doesn't change the fact that every now and again it is nice to open up the windows and let some real air circulate through the house, just to remember what that feels like and it removes the stale feeling which comes from too much A/C. However, opening up the windows during the summer months has one consequence which I am not very fond of, namely all the insects which up to this point have stayed outside and who now make a break for inside the house. Whenever I sleep with the windows open during the summer, it never fails that I will be dealing with a hoard of new insects to get rid of the next day. I don't know how they managed to get in considering all the windows have screens in them, but it is almost enough to make me wish for another heatwave, just so I have a reason to keep my windows closed and locked.

Waking up this morning it appeared that a new group of spiders had been very busy in the corners of my bedroom. As you know I have a policy regarding spiders, which is that I don't kill them as long as they remain outside of a few key areas, with my bedroom being the most key area of them all. I actually didn't find any spiders to dispose of to send this message in person, but needless to say I spent a few minutes tearing down their new homes in hopes they would get the hint this is not the place to set up shop. I can deal with spiders, though. The insects which really freak me out are the ones which I can't tell what the hell they are. This morning I went in to brush my teeth and out of the corner of my eye saw movement on the ceiling near the light. A second look revealed a creature about 5 inches in length quickly skittering across the ceiling. I have no idea what the heck this thing was, I just know it had a lot of legs. It looked like it was half-caterpillar, half-spider and all-the-way creepy. (You can check my Twitter account for the picture I took before squashing it.) It was the kind of squashing which produces not only a quite loud popping noise, but also a lot of fluid flying in every direction. It was pretty gross and not the best way to start my morning.

The other problem with sleeping with open windows is that it turns out nature gets pretty loud when there is no humming of an air conditioner to drown it out. One of the reasons I like where my house is located so much is that there is some space between me and the neighbors, which means unless they are throwing a party I don't have to listen to their personal conversations on quiet nights. However, the various nocturnal animals in the neighborhood are not nearly as conscientious regarding noise after a certain hour. Late last night I started to hear some serious screeching outside my window. At first I thought it was some neighborhood pet or one of the random cats on my street coming to an unfortunate end at the hands of a larger animal, but I have since learned it was a couple of huge raccoons fighting it out up in a tree behind my house. No idea what the problem between them was, but they were going to settle it last night and they didn't care who they bothered in the process. But if you have heard what happened the last time I called animal control regarding a raccoon, you know those guys would be wise to keep it down from now on.

The good news is that I live in Massachusetts, which means I have an ace in the hole - fall. Bugs don't like cold weather, so once the temperatures drop that will wipe many insects off the landscape. One good overnight frost warning in September and this will all be a memory (for a few months, anyway). And even though it will only be a temporary solution, it is better than the alternative. I have friends who live down South and they report back that with no cold months to hit the biological reset button, the bugs not only work their way inside all year-round, but they get bigger every time they do. In my opinion that sounds pretty horrible. I don't care how annoying a problem may be, only dealing with it for a couple of months a year beats a less annoying problem which is around all the time. (I'm sure there is a math formula to confirm this.) The fact that everyone apparently get used to it sounds even worse. I just know that if I walked into my bathroom and saw that same kind of insect on the ceiling every single morning I would move. I hear Alaska is lovely this time of year.