A pleasant sign of an approaching fall season, cattails billowing in a subtropical breeze.
A less pleasant sign of fall ... the love bugs are back. They don't bite, sting, or pinch. Mostly they seem to eat and mate. Unfortunately they pursue this decadent lifestyle along roadways where they get plastered (in vast numbers)to windshields and front grills of passing cars.
Carwash operators love lovebugs as people (like me) who never think to actually wash a vehicle become regular customers in the race to remove the paint dissolving bug juice before damage occurs.
They are a temporary inconvenience however. Their trysting only lasts for a few weeks and then suddenly you notice they're gone ... until spring.
Another sign of fall is the tropical storm wannabe that's rumbling outside my house today. It has slid across from the east coast and is now soaking up Gulf of Florida warmth. Amazing lightning happened west of PFHQ last night and good soaking rains have started. It's not real windy here yet, but Franklin county had a tornado warning a few minutes ago.
We are in a red box on the weather channel map at this time and there's some pretty good rain bands streaming across us on the radar.
It's all pretty mild so far and I think good folks to the west of us will get the worst of this storm if it becomes the hurricane it wants to be.
Yep, we had quite a storm last night. My home office is surrounded by windows and I wanted to just 'play' at the computer into the early morning just to listen to the downpour and the windchimes. I noticed those little beasts yesterday !! Is it true they were a mutation accident by some student at UF???? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteUse number 4,187 for WD-40:
ReplyDeleteCoat vehicle with light spray, making Love Bug Removal quick and easy.
I can't think of a way to work duct-tape into this advice.
We had a tornado come within 3 miles of us here in Central Florida. And some spectacular thunder and lightning! Quite a show.
ReplyDeleteI saw a lovebug on my winshield yesterday. Nooooooooooooo!
We drove around land-looking last Saturday. I was washing the 972 love bugs off the front end of my vehicle late the same night. :) I like watching them floating around fornicating on the breeze, but hate what they do to my paint job.
ReplyDeleteWe had a good show here about 3 this morning. Couple of booms just about knocked me out of bed!
my introduction to the world of my neighbors took me to corbett where i kept making them stop the buggy so i could cut some cattails. As they were all snickering to each other. And they all called me the next day.. WHY? to hear me scream and yell why didn't you tell me THEY EXPLODE!!!
ReplyDeletebut joke was on them. As an artist i knew somehow to spray them to keep them in tact.
I read about your tornado. Gad it must be terrible, horrible, no good very bad days there from time to time. Stay loose.
ReplyDeleteYuck. Our Minnesota frost keeps out riff raff like that here. But we're having similar unsettled weather. It seems to have passed now.
ReplyDeleteDanielle,
ReplyDeleteNah, that UF fable will never die. They're a perfectly normal Florida bug ... nothing scifi about their origins.
Artfulsub,
LOL!
Would PAM work?
Jacki,
Glad you're okay! Love bugs seem like a minor thing compared to tornadoes.
Sharon,
And they stink too.
Jojo,
Clever! They do make a mess when they go. We used to soak them in kerosene for play torches when we were kids.
How did we survive childhood!?
Hoss,
None here thankfully!
Deb,
I knew bitter cold was good for something besides chilling beer.
Oh, those lovebugs!
ReplyDeleteRule #1: keep your mouth shut. *shudder*
They're everywhere
in your hair
in your eyes
in your pies
up your nose
and your garden hose
even on your specs
those things keep having ***
***
Wrecks, Goober! Whaddya think I meant?!
Amen on the Luv Bugs. Did a post back in the spring on them and how their lobby, PETLB, were after me for mass murder.
ReplyDeleteCat Tails are a true sign our nice indian summer approaching. Thought you might have some bad weather, my Dad called from the Panhandle and it was a "gully washer"
http://flanativemusings.blogspot.com/2007/05/people-for-ethical-treatment-of-love.html#links
Yours in the bond
Ugh Love Bugs. I can't begin to tell you how many of those I have accidentally EATEN while driving with the windows down. Also, they practically attack our bright-neon-orange kayak until it's literally covered in black and red, and every time I open my mouth to speak, they take the liberty of flying right in...Suicidal little things they are.
ReplyDelete"PETLB"!!! LOL!!! You're right FC, they DO stink, especially when they are on a hot truck grill :)
ReplyDeleteSophie,
ReplyDeleteBravo!
LOL!
Scott,
Keep looking behind you.
HTeen,
Oh yeah, and don't wear white for a while.
Sharon,
One wonders if anything besides cars eats them.
We received three and a half glorious inches from that last little tropical depression. Took several days to get it but we did.
ReplyDeleteThe lovebugs just about drove us crazy when we made a trip into town on Sunday.
Love Bugs
.....Alan.