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Friday, June 14, 2024
Over the past several years, we have had practically no bugs in Wisconsin. In fact, we have heard about the collapse of the insect population in many parts of the world. As awesome as this sounds, apparently, too much of a good thing can have negative consequences. What about the animals that feed on insects, like many birds? Will their population also collapse?
Speaking of too much of a good thing. Our crazy but wonderfully warm winter seems to have brought the so-called insect collapse roaring back from the brink. Mosquitos are as thick as clouds this June. They have never been this bad.
Packing V-Jer, our 18-foot camper trailer, and Saturn, our full-sized cargo van, was a sprint. We’d run from the house to the vehicles, dodging the Kamikaze mosquitos, throwing stuff here and there, and running back to the cover of the house.
Mosquitos aren’t the only bugs to explode this Spring. Ticks are also plentiful. I have had Lime’s Disease twice, and it isn’t fun. Unfortunately, it became Wanda’s turn to contract a tick-borne disease (Anaplasmosis). Her ankle blew up with an insect bite that itched for a week. We didn’t see a tick and thought it was a gnat bite. At least for me, mosquito bites are annoying but don’t last long. Gnat bites drive me crazy for days.
Anyway, a few days after the welt and itch faded away, she became deathly ill. The doctor immediately suspected a tick bite. The test returned positive for Anaplasmosis, a new-fangled tick disease we had never heard of before. Thank goodness she immediately responded to the antibiotic. It was nip and tuck, but she was ready for our trip.
It turned out to be a good thing we had to delay our departure an extra day. This morning, we discovered scores of stuff we forgot to pack yesterday. I am sure we will discover more stuff we forgot, but it will be about 40 or 50 fewer things. We reached the cottage around 11 a.m. I dropped off my band equipment. It will be there when we return on July 3, just in time to play Jeff's gigs.
We arrived at our campsite around 3:30 p.m. The Northwoods are exceptionally lush and green this year. The big fat ferns give the forests a prehistoric look, and the tree foliage is dense. Wow!
But, the big mosquito revival has reached up here, too. After setting up camp, we took a three-mile walk around the park. It was tolerable as long as we were cruising like those crazy-looking speed-walkers. Slowing down was torturous. Stopping would have been instant death. Well, that’s what screens on the camper is for.
We retired early, for we have a big day tomorrow - our first full day on the road.
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