Thursday, June 26, 2025, 62*, 0656
Leaves flutter in a passing breeze. Among the sounds of morning, eight voices, including an unseen Barred Owl and its seven companions. Last night after I turned off the computer, turned off the desk lamp a crash. I’m not sure what nudged the ornate frame on the top shelf into motion, but it gained speed taking with it the metal pitcher of dried flowers. Frame, flowers broken.
Biting through the fabric of summer in early mornings and evenings, the same cool times we like to be outside, mosquitoes go in search of blood. I know considering where welts are appearing.
Do you ever think about all those bites so close together – you weren’t landed on by a swarm, a mosquito can bite more than once until satiated. Drawn to body heat, to carbon dioxide only female mosquitoes bite. How long can you hold your breath? To keep tiny probing mouths from biting, don’t wear red, black, navy blue, or florals; instead choose impenetrable clothing of lighter colors—denim, wool, fleece, velvet. Choose your discomfort, your poison.
I read a quote once but don’t recall the source or the exact words –
Whoever said don’t let the small things get to you,
never slept with a mosquito.
Photo: LJ Austin
