I saw a big black fly in the house the other day. I couldn’t imagine why it would stick its ugly head out on such a cold day. He must have got his signals mixed. 

Flies drive my dad crazy. He becomes a bug killing monster. They drive him bananas. Of course thinking where they might have been before they come here sort of blows my mind too. A housefly can transport germs as far as 15 miles away from the original source of contamination.

Assuming that all the offspring survived, 190,000,000,000,000,000, 000 flies could be produced in four months by the offspring of a single pair of flies.

One thing can be said for this cold weather that we have been experiencing. I haven’t had to swat even one mosquito for quite a few days now. They must be tough little buggers though because they seem to come alive in quantities when warm weather hits again. Mosquitoes are the hardiest of all the world’s insects. It has been found that they live in the coldest region of northern Canada and Siberia and can live quite comfortably at the North Pole. It is equally at home in equatorial jungles.

Mosquitoes do not bite. They stab. A mosquito has no jaws; when attacking a victim it pierces it with its long proboscis and sucks the blood up through the nasal tube. At one “sitting” a mosquito can absorb one and a half times its own weight in blood.

The buzzing of flies and bees is not produced by any sound-producing apparatus within the insects’ bodies. It is simply the sound of their wings moving up and down and back and forth at a rapid rate. A mosquito’s wings move at the rate of 1,000 times a second.

I have always loved the story of the bumblebee. Attending a seminar in Texas the speaker, Mamie McCullough, challenged us that how different the goal or whatever the handicap is, one could convince themselves of the truth, “I can.” Strongly believing enough one can use power wisely.

We need to be like the bumblebee. Scientists can prove that it is aerodynamically impossible for the bumblebee to fly. Its body is too heavy and its wings too light to sustain flight. Since the bumblebee however chooses not to be affected by this sophisticated opinion - he flies, he works, and he achieves!

Bees create their own air conditioning. When the weather becomes hot and the temperature inside the bee hive threatens to melt the wax, one group of bees stations itself at the entrance to the colony while another remains inside. Both groups then flap their wings simultaneously, sometimes at a rate of 400 flaps per second. Thus they create a cross-draft that pulls the hot air out of the hive and draws cooler air in.

Remember the movie, “Karate Kid” where the old Chinese judo expert would catch them with chop sticks? Impossible? No! I have a couple of cousins and a nephew who use to be very skillful at catching them that way. Hard to believe as their wings vibrate 340 times a second and they have a rotating eye span better than a gunner pilot in an airplane.

My nephew Cam as a young child was always a good bug catcher.  Fireflies were easy and he would put them in a glass jar and they became little flashlights. He did get in trouble once. He was an expert at catching bees by their wings, seldom ever getting stung. It was something he was proud of and one day he took a collection of bees in a glass jar to school for “show and tell.” The teacher wasn’t so pleased, thinking he was up to mischief. When she saw the expression on his face and realized it wasn’t a prank but was an accomplishment of great intent, she did apologize but advised him to remove the jar from the classroom just in case someone might open the cover, or that the jar might fall onto the floor and break. 

 Without a doubt, bugs will be the last living thing on the earth. For one thing there are so many of them. There are more insects in one square mile of rural land than there are human beings on the entire earth. Scientists discover approximately 7,000 to 10,000 new insect species every year – and they believe that there are between 1 million and 10 million species as yet unfound.

It thoroughly disgusts me to see people eating bugs on repulsive TV shows, but in reality it is said that bugs are really high in quality nutrition. 

How could they know that? The thought of some research person on his hands and knees counting is rather hilarious.

Some bugs injure crops, but most are relatively harmless. They are usually controlled by chemical sprays or dust however other insects most often provide the best control of bugs.

Moral of the story: Size doesn’t give us power even though we are capable of killing the little beasties with a fly swatter or step on them with a foot.

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Birthdays and anniversaries:

• Thursday, February 18th: Karson Kenneth Benning, 2015; Kris Munson McDonald, Janice Waage, Zola Wayne, Jamie Kunkel Riley, Brad & Rachel Lerum

• Friday, February 19th: Abraham Peterson, Allison Schmidt, Maklela Larkin, Deedee Hunt, Jason Jensen, Teri Ravenhorst, Marjorie Solberg

• Saturday, February 20th: Derek Dobberstein, his second birthday;  Hadley Routh, Derek Flesche, Amy Shaunce, David Swearingen, Joyce Lageson Hoddick, LuAnn Sommer Granholdt, David & LeAnn Hanson, Jim & Nancy Cornelius

• Sunday, February 21st: Jeannie Worrell, Andy Butler, Phillip Ingvaldson, Bryan Dirkson, Leanna Peterson, Chris & Kim Jensen, Darrell & Cynthia Farr, Max & Marlene Jensen

• Monday, February 22nd: Shelia Nelson White, Carlie Thompson, Dalys Waltz, Joan & Marian Mast

• Tuesday, February 23rd: Sharon Gasner Ramaker, Bernie Warnke, Josh Krueger, Daniel Suelter, Dale Waltz, Tiffany Mischke, Daniel Walterman, Laura & Jamie Baudoin

• Wednesday, February 24th: Jerry Hemingway, Rick Draper, Nathan Wayne, Roxy Menefee Ray, Sarah Zamora, Nancy Larson, Kathy & Daryl Reed

Wishing you quiet moments of beauty on your special day!