Mosquitos On The Outer Banks. Epic.

It is impossible to venture outside now. I can't work in the yard at all. It's bad enough just walking ... Nay, running to the mailbox and back. We have a plague of mosquitoes. These insects are relentless. They attack you through long sleeves and pants. They whir annoyingly, threateningly, and menacingly as they try to enter virgin orifices. We've had an earthquake. Then there was a tornado nearby. Then there was that damn pesky hurricane. Then flooding, the likes of which I've never seen here in my 27 years. Another tornado somewhere else. Then the mosquitoes spawned. Then we had about a week or so of solid rain. Then more mosquitoes hatched. Basically, one cannot go outside without being plagued by the little buggers. Wait, I take that back. They're not "little" buggers. They're freakin' HUGE! buggers. They're like Lake Mattamuskeet crabs.

This morning I went out to the truck and headed to the recycling center. I'm driving up Colington road, constantly swatting at myself. In the time one quickly opens the door and gets inside one's vehicle, there will be at least a dozen mosquitoes in there with you.

I complained to Candy at the recycling center that it was sad I had to leave my doors open to get rid of the skeeters inside my truck. Even Zippy said he kept crossing the center line on Colington Road due to fending off these nasty critters. Good thing our paths didn't cross.

You see your neighbors going out to get their mail and they're spastically slapping themselves everywhere. Our clothing is blood-splattered. It's not a pretty sight. After I wrote this much about the mosquito problem, I saw Joy Crist's article about skeeters in Island Free Press, the news of Hatteras and Ocracoke Island. She says it much better than I ever could: Attack of the Kinnaskeeters I've already posted one of Crist's articles before: How I Spent My Summer Evacuation Both are good reads. Do yourself the favor.

Rosie Is Pissed And Maudlin And Could Probably Use Some Sort Of Chemical Intervention.

Rosie must admit to you. She's been having a tough time since Irene. Sorry to keep harping on a hurricane, but this has affected me greatly. Not really monetarily - that's the least of my worries. Yes. I lost stuff. But like I've said, it's just stuff. Glad to be rid of most of it. But there's a downside to this. I've sorta become an emotional wreck here. And that's not who or what I am. The only thing I figure it can be is the constant stress of picking up the pieces, cleaning the pieces, and putting the pieces back in their proper places. Or throwing the pieces out. Which is mostly what I've been doing. I really lost nothing. Everything I "lost," I still have in my heart. You know I love my garden. I can certainly rebuild that. But there's a certain feeling I have that's hard to shake. I can't explain it. It involves physical, emotional, and mental stress. And it's all balled up and resides inside my shoulder blades and neck and it's making me really bitchy. I'm quite quick with the nerves. And please, don't even look at me the wrong way. I got a couple of comments on a recent post about the Aftermath of Irene and its impact on one particular Hatteras islander, Joy Crist, who chronicled her experience in her Island Free Press column, "How I Spent My Summer Evacuation." It is a MUST READ. Here are the two comments to my Aftermath of Irene post and my response:

Post a Comment On: Kitchens Are Monkey Business

"Aftermath Of Irene."

3 Comments - Show Original Post Collapse comments

Anonymous said...

How do you think the county will ever convince anyone to leave the next time?

September 8, 2011 12:13 PM

Marion said...

Incredible article. Reminded me of when you evacuated with infant daughter H., Rosie the dog, and maybe Annie the cat, and said, "Never again".

September 8, 2011 1:52 PM

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Anony, they haven't convinced me in years. I don't listen to them anyway. I watch the storm and make the decision myself. The county is only covering their own ass. Marion, that was in 1985 right after we first moved here in 84. We were new and just did not know at the time. The hype of TWC. The constant err on the side of safety. It's always crying wolf. When I see a wolf coming, you can be sure my ass will be outta here. Otherwise, I'm staying here to take care of my property. Now, if I lived on Hatteras or Ocracoke, that's a whole different ballgame. I'd hate leaving, not knowing what's happening to my home, and then being unable to get home. That's devastating to me. This is just a small part of my irritation with the media. They flail in the wind on the beach. This is plain idiotic. Yes, we know the ocean stirs up in a hurricane. Gee, I didn't see one media person in Hatteras. Go figger. Why don't you come over to this neck of the woods - soundside and canalside. Watch the water rising at an alarming rate and watch it start bubbling into your home. Watch it rise 3 feet on the ground floor. Watch your pots and pans stored downstairs float in the muck. Open the forgotten box of your mother's and grandmother's cookbooks with handwritten notes and all the 3 x 5 index cards in the little metal boxes with your mother's recipes. Find that forgotten box of your 16 x 20 photographs from 30+ years ago you brought back from your mother's home. Look at the damage to our homes and our beautiful gardens. Look at the piles and piles of debris littering our streets. Look at all my neighbors who lost their cars. Look at the people who live here and are the soul of this place. Look at the powers that be that allow tourists back onto our fragile strip of land before we've had a chance to clean up our homes. And these people still need to go to work if their work is still there. And the tourists are allowed in and start calling the rental companies bitching because their rental home is a mess. Better yet TWC, stay on the damn beach. You seem to take great pleasure in our destruction and despair. We don't want you here.

September 8, 2011 10:18 PM

You bottom-feeders sicken me. Rosie rant over. Thanks. I feel better.

Aftermath Of Irene.

Please read this article, How I Spent My Summer Evacuation, from Island Free Press. Just to give you a hint of what goes on south of us.

We Were Very Lucky.

I'm trying to shift away from my paltry pesky problems of hurricane cleanup here and focus more on my food, but until then, here's an idea of what happened south of us. Hurricane Irene Aftermath From Island Free Press. Here's an article about Hurricane Katia from The Outer Banks Voice. Stay tuned for Mr. Hawthorne's meatloaf. Rosie needed comfort food and Mr. Hawthorne provided.

Island Free Press.

Island Free Press. on Hurricane Irene. I especially liked Anne Bowers article.

Why Do We Stay?

Why stay, you ask? Perhaps this article says it best. By Irene Nolan, editor of Island Free Press, covering Hatteras and Ocracoke.