They Came in the Night

It happens every year around this time.  Last night there was a storm, nothing impressive.  Some rain, a little thunder and lightening, and then the wind.  They came riding on the wings of the wind.  I woke up this morning to find them everywhere.  On the side of the house, on the windows, on the garden fence, on the kids playhouse and slide...They have arrived.  If you live near a lake or a river you may know what I'm talking about.

The Fish Fly

The fish fly is harmless.  They can live up to a week.  They're a source of food for fish so I guess we need them.  They just kinda hang out everywhere.  And that's the problem.  Some years are worse than others and I've heard this year is going to be a bad one.  Seriously, it will look like we've been hit with a plague.  I remember my first year in the shores.  I was driving somewhere and it was dark.  Every time I passed by a street light or a store with it's sign lit up, I noticed that there were swarms of something covering the lights.  Then the road started getting slick.  I thought, what the heck?  It's as dry as bone outside.  Why are the roads slippery?  I felt like I was driving on a slip and slide.  I got home and walked up to my front porch.  I was greeted my swarms of something covering every square inch of my house.  I didn't know what I was looking at so I carefully...carefully, opened my door and asked Kris what in the world were those things outside.  He looked at me like I just asked him if he liked peanut butter.  He told me they were fish flies.  Okay, well I grew up in the country and, although, I have seen my fair share of bugs, I have never seen a fish fly.  He explained to me what they were and that they pretty much just hang out for a couple of weeks and then they're gone.  That year was a particularly bad year.  The reasons the roads were slick, almost greasy, was because they were covered with fish flies, Eww.  It's a good thing I'm not an insect lover.  Otherwise, I might have felt really guilty about partaking in a fish fly massacre.       

Izzie saw the fish flies over her windows this morning and didn't freak out...as long as we stay inside, which considering the humid heat, is not a problem.  When she asked Daddy what they were he told her they were fish flies.  "No, they're not fish flies."  She was very adamant about it and insisted that they were not fish flies.  Maybe it was because they don't look like fish.  Maybe it's because she likes fish and doesn't want some old bug named after them.  Or maybe it's because she doesn't like fish and didn't want anything called a fish fly near her house.  Whatever it was, I explained to her why they're called fish flies and then she walked up to Daddy and said, "They're called fish flies Daddy."