Creepy Crawlies

Today was lawn cutting day. And "I" cut the lawns! I cut our own property as well as our neighbour's lawns. It's something I enjoy doing, despite the fact that, after four hours of cutting, I'm filthy and my back & neck hurt from all the jolting and bouncing around because of uneven ground.

But, I still enjoy it because I like the gratifying feeling when it's all done! (I like straight lines and no big hunks of grass laying in the lawn! I'm particular that way.)

However, today I was a little grossed out with some 'characters' that I came in contact with.

To begin, the humidity here is extremely high, so it feels like everything is sticking to you. Cutting under trees is really becoming annoying this time of year because, as the title indicates, the Creepy Crawlies are out! I thought I might share some pictures of these creatures that I found on the internet. But let me assure you, I DID come in contact with these creatures today.

So this is what I ride around on for four hours every week: (This is not a photo of our John Deere tractor, but it's very similar.)

My first Creepy Crawlie was a fellow that looked like this:

He was stuck on my shirt and I tried to flick him off, but he was literally stuck to my shirt. So I had to grab him and pull him off, and when I DID, he STUCK TO MY FINGERS....... [insert scream here with hairs on my back standing on end!] Grrrrrrrross!!!!!! Yucka!!!!!!!!!! Freaked me out.

Then I came into the house for lunch. I asked Jared to check my back for any Creepy Crawlies. He said there were not any. Two minutes later I feel one of THESE little guys crawling on my lower leg:

... a little tiny inchwormy-thing-a-ma-bopper. Again..... YUCKA! [Good checking Jared! .......said typed with MUCH sarcasm!]

So I eat my lunch and head back out for some more cutting. About half an hour later, lo and behold, one of THESE guys is crawling on my foot:

It normally wouldn't have freaked me out because I usually wear my sneakers while cutting the lawn; however, today I wore my sandals to get a bit more of a tan on my feet...... so Mr. Danny Long Legs was crawling on my foot and he BIT me! I didn't know Danny would bite, but he does! Yucka! So I killed him! (Now it's supposed to rain, right?)

Of course, grass cutting would not be complete without your wonderful army of mosquitoes sucking the very life right out of you!

When I was a little girl, I remember them only coming out at night! NOW they are out all day long! Sunshine, rain, cloudy, humid, hot, cool, dark,.... doesn't matter the weather conditions.... although I do find they don't bother much with me on a windy day. Bring on the wind!

So, what creature is left? How about this one........

Yes, good ol' Mr. Fly. However there are so many species of these guys, I don't know which kind he was, but he was very annoying. Landing on my legs, buzzing around my head....... leave me alone! I'm cutting the lawn!

The only creatures that didn't bug me today were the barn swallows. They usually get upset and will dive right at my head while I'm out cutting. But they were no-shows today.

So when all is said and done, after squashing the Creepy Crawlies or tossing them in the air because they're stuck to my finger, again... yucka!, it feels good to see what I got accomplished. Here's a portion of the area that I cut: (it's a view from our back yard)

Photo of "Found Estates" - taken Summer 2008

No more Creepy Crawlies on me today......

...... but rest assured, they'll be waiting for me NEXT week! YUCKA!