Commonly known as Canadian soldiers (whether true or not, I've heard in Canada they are called American soldiers), the Lake Erie mayflies have arrived. They are supposed to be a good thing . . . indicating a healthy lake . . . but they TOTALLY freak me out. They don't poop or bite, but I have this irrational fear of them. I just discovered there is even a website dedicated to them and a Facebook page. These facts are from the website.
"Mayflies usually live for 24-72 hours. Don't forget that they've already spent 1-2 years on the bottom of the lake as a nymph living burrowed in the mud. Within that three days, though, they manage to get into about everything you can imagine. You will find dead mayflies lying around on the sidewalks, in spider webs, on window ledges, etc. They'll go anywhere where there's light at night. Wear a white shirt outside at night and you'll see what I mean.
Many mayflies stack up on the streets below street lights. This is where they land after they get tired of flying around the light for hours on end. Once on the street, they are usually run over by cars and make this "snapping" sound and it's all over. If its dry, they turn into a dust after several hours of traffic. If it's raining, they turn into a thick soup that smells something awful (read 'real dead fish'). The City of Port Clinton has gained approval from the Environmental Protection Agency, and a grant from the Ohio Lake Erie Commission, for the very first mayfly composting site in America! Now isn't that quite a claim to fame for the city that's already The Walleye Capital of the World!!!"
I took a walk late last evening and then sat on the porch until 9:00 pm and nary a mayfly was seen. This morning I awoke to an Alfred Hitchcock type nightmare.
Millions of them . . .
I won't be doing any yardwork for a few days.
Thankfully they are usually done hatching in a couple days, but then there are skeletons of them everywhere.
I've been working on a few "hooky" things for my upcoming show in September. One pumpkin is done . . .
. . . and sunflowers that will be mounted on old bedsprings are in progress. I'll be happy when the sunflowers on the "bad" linen are done. Reminder to self. No matter how thrifty you are, as Kelley stated, "life is too short to hook on bad linen".
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs :)
Lauren
I got the inspiration for this fraktur bird from a reproduction Greg Shooner redware plate I own. It's about 10 inches tall. It resides on an old shoeshine box in my upstairs bathroom.
