Day 914

I think we are transitioning from the allergy season to the bug bite season. My allergies don't bother me nearly as much when I'm working outside now. It's a small consolation however, since I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes. The chiggers and mosquitoes are terrible this year. It's been years since they've been this bad. Probably the moist, rainy Spring has created just the right conditions for bugs of all kinds. I wish they'd go away. I had to mow the grass today, and by the time I finished, I must have gotten a hundred mosquito bites.

One reason that my allergies aren't bothering me as much is that I've started eating local raw honey. I've heard that since bees pollinate many of the same plants that cause Spring allergies, you can build up an immunity to these allergies by eating several tablespoons a day of local, raw, unfiltered honey. It's seems to work. Then again, maybe the allergy season is over anyway. I guess I won't know for sure until next Spring.

I'm still seeing cars with broken windshields and dented hoods all over town. Janet finally got an insurance adjustor to look at her car today. She said it took forever, since the adjustor insisted on counting every single dent. This ferocious hailstorm leaves me more nervous about rain than ever. It seems like nothing good happens when it rains. The roof leaks. The power goes out frequently during storms. The dogs panic and occasionally have seizures. Now, I have to add the total destruction of your car as yet another rainy day hazard. I guess a dry climate isn't much better though. Look at all those forest fires they're having out west right now.

When I was walking the dogs this afternoon, it looked like a good day to take the kayak out. I saw lots of kayaks out on the lake. I wish it wasn't so hard to get my kayak down to the water. I have two choices. I can strap some little wheels to the boat and drag it down the hill to the water. Alternately, I can bolt a roof rack to the car and drive the kayak down to the water. Neither of these alternatives are great. Since the hill is steep, it can be quite tiring to pull the boat back up the slope to the house when you're finished. Going to the lake by car seems like a good alternative until you realize that there aren't many entrances to the park by road. I can see the water from my house, but I have to drive quite a ways to get to the same place. The roof rack won't fit on the loaner car anyway, so this is all a mute point. Needless to say, the kayak doesn't leave the backyard very often

Hershey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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