It's been six months since I last put up a message here. The winter weather and extended gray spring killed my motivation. Or at least that's my excuse.
The snowfall last winter was below normal, and an early thaw enabled us to get the garden rototilled and the cool season veggies planted well ahead of schedule. But then May was overcast, cool, and drizzly. We only got the warm season veggies planted last weekend. This week the sun returned and summery weather is here.
I rejoice! Everybody here rejoices! The garden rejoices! The black flies rejoice!
Yes, the black flies. They really like me. It's nice to have friends, but it's better when those friends don't bite you. They say that female black flies need the proteins in blood in order to reproduce. So I must be personally responsible for next year's black fly population boom.
How do they do it? Well, I've read that they have very specialized mouth parts. First, there are a pair of hooks that they stick in your skin to hold themselves tight. Then they use a saw-like apparatus to cut into you and draw blood. Then they have some sort of sucking part to suck up your blood. I think they also have a Terry sensor to be sure that they tank up with premium and not unleaded regular.
So, I've paid in blood for our garden. But everything is thriving now, and we've been eating our spinach for a week now. Life is good.
Peace,
Terry
6/2/05