It’s Spring, and with that comes bugs.  Gnats. Bees. Other unnamed bugs that… well… bug me.

I know that there is a delicate balance of things in nature. I know that bugs have a purpose, and that we need them.

But I don’t need them swarming around me when I take a walk, swarming so much that I am constantly waving my hand in front of me. It gets tiring. And I’m afraid to talk because I don’t want a bug flying into my mouth.

I don’t need bees buzzing around the plants in my yard, so that weeding is something that has to be scheduled for when they aren’t around.  Bees don’t seem to be out in the very early morning or late evening.  I guess that’s when they are resting. That’s when I would like to rest too.

I don’t need the bugs in my house.  I do need them to tell me how they are getting in.  My husband sprays the perimeter of the house weekly with bug spray so they stay on their own side of the walls.  But sometimes they sneak in.  I did NOT need the centipede that we found in our laundry room the other day.

Having said all of this, however, I do respect bugs. (Most bugs. I struggle with respecting gnats.)

I admit I respect them more when my husband is around and can deal with them.

We have a wonderful bug-catcher!   When our friends, Carin (Carin Grobe Design) and her husband , Alex, came to visit us in October, she had this bug catcher with her.  We had never seen one like it, and they kindly left it with us. When you push the green button on the handle, the bottom of the clear plastic part of the catcher retracts. Place the clear plastic casing over the bug, release the button, and the bug is safely contained within the plastic compartment.  It  can then safely be released outdoors.

When bugs get in our house, they really need to do it when my husband is home.  He’s much more adept (and likely) to use this than I am.