I reject this reality and substitute my own

The boys and I are back from lovely Carlsbad, California: Land of No Bugs and Perfect Weather. As you can see, it was sunny. I'm a bad mother who totally zoned out on the sun block. Oh, well. They'll forget all about it, but I'll be scarred for life ... or until the next trip west.

It always seems like a dream when I'm in California and a nightmare when I'm home. Maybe it's the magic of my mom, but there are no bugs where she lives. Seriously. If it weren't for wanting to keep her cranky cat from being eaten by a passing coyote, she could leave her doors wide open.

Delaware, on the other hand, has some kind of evil mosquito that reminds me a lot of this guy we saw at the Natural History Museum in San Diego. When I was growing up, the mosquitoes were brown, and I hated them. The ones I squash now are black and white and very aggressive. They seek me out at any time of day, not just dawn and dusk. Little blood-sucking bastards. I've promised a financial reward for every mosquito head they bring me. I believe in live and let live, but not when it comes to mosquitoes.

[Warning: Kid Anecdote]
And speaking of live and let live, Buddha Boy has made it his job to personally escort each fly who ends up in our house back outside. He waits until the fly lands, then sprays it with water from a spray bottle until the fly can't get away. Then he scoops up the fly and takes it outside. This is just too good to be made up.

This snail is one of many the Boy found in danger on my mom's patio. He lovingly escorted each to safety ... in mom's garden.

And I'll leave you with this lizard, one of many who checked me out. Those little suckers are fast and zoom away like they eat jet fuel.

Sorry about all the fauna. I guess they made an impression. Frankly, I'd rather spend time with them than with some of the other critters who live in California!