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| Blogs > MissAnnThrope > Misanthropic Ramblings |
Late June In Oklahoma
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Late June In Oklahoma It's hard to believe I've been here almost a year. June is turning out to be an interesting month in many ways. First, the creepy crawlies. I am not a fan of stinging insects, rodents or spiders. I don't like any of them. I thought I had seen the worst of it when I was visiting [blog neveragain80] at Easter and there were red wasps everywhere. Those things are nasty looking and of course, they were attracted to my hair. Let's just say if I had been there another week, I might have quit smoking altogether, as going outside to smoke with those things flying around turned me into that cowering three year old. Flash forward to June. I was sitting outside on the stoop about a week ago, blowing bubbles. It was when the sun was on the other side and things felt cool in the shade. I kept noticing little stings on my feet and ankles. I looked down and I was under attack from fire ants! I HATE fire ants! Those little buggers hurt like hell. Then of course, the mosquitoes started, small, black, nasty looking in this area. Those together were my cue to get in the house. Yesterday morning, I was getting ready to take a shower. I always close the shower curtain first, then start the water before I get in, so there are no nasty surprises such as scalding or freezing. As I shut the shower curtain one of the biggest spiders I've ever seen fell from the folds of the curtain into the tub. The thing was as brownish red as a red wasp and bigger than a wolf spider. Well, I don't get close to spiders if I have to. So I turned on the water and went to work drowning it. It wasn't going down without a fight and fight it did. It took a good five minutes to get it to give up the fight and go down the drain. But the entire time I was in the shower, I expected it to swim up and attack my ankles. Then there are these weird looking beetles I keep seeing in the bathroom. They look like a small, common black beetle, but they're ribbed horizontally all the way down. They look like a cross between a slug, a beetle and a centipede. They're spooky looking things that make a very loud crunch when you squash them. Then yesterday afternoon the from across the street came over with his best friend to play on the computers. They say to me, "guess what we just did?" After giving three answers, they told me they just killed a rat in the alley behind their house. Around here, on every block, there are these utility access allies, very grassy and overgrown, the only people who use them are utility workers. It's where all the wires are. And they killed a rat. Nice. Seems the people next door pointed out the rat to them at the side of the house. As they attacked it with a broom, it ran for the alley. That is where they cornered it. I asked how big it was, I was told it was a baby. Then they indicated with their hands how big it was. Baby, eh? Only if the mother was a wharf rat. It was a full grown rat. Nice. Rats in the neighborhood. I think we need more outside cats around here. Now that we've covered the creepy crawlies, there's that other side of late June in Oklahoma. The side that makes this the most wonderful time of the year for so many. The time of year that turns grown butch men into giggling little . Legal fireworks. From the middle of June until July 5th, it is legal to sell fireworks here. As long as they're not sold on city property. So the stands around here are on either reservation or county land. We're not talking those little crappy ones people buy illegally in Chinatown every year that are quite disappointing. Oh no. These border on professional grade. Fireworks are supposed to be illegal within city limits, but as they're sold within city limits on county land, heh, good luck with that, guys. They don't seem to enforce the law either. So already, the night sky is lit up. Every night. All around. It reminds me of being in the UK around Guy Fawkes Day. The roomie has already stocked up on them, the party this year is outside of city limits and well, even if he sets off half of them, it's going to be quite the show. But as he came home with them, the look of demented glee as he sorted through them, well, it must be a guy thing. The from across the street was watching. And all but drooling. It must be a guy thing. But I do agree with the roomie on how disappointing some of the smaller ones he couldn't resist using were. (See Less Bang For Your Buck) I actually made the comment, it was like sex with men from this site and why up north I finally gave up and started<b> meeting men </font></b>off the List that is Craig's. Mind you, I enjoy a good fireworks show. As long as I'm not being deafened by it or in danger of having my arm taken off. As in, I enjoy them from a safe distance. I did go with him to the fireworks stand on Sunday. There was a small pack I liked, that appealed to my sense of the macabre. Little eyeball jumping jack type ones, that you light, they spin and then jump in the air. But $5 for a pack of three, even if it was buy one get one free was a bit of a rip-off in my opinion. Tonight, I was walking home from the pharmacy as I thought it would do the headache I had for almost 24 hours good. It didn't. The Alleve I bought finally kicked it. But I digress. I was walking home, after sunset, nice cool breeze, no sun beating on me. In other words, prime time for pyrotechnics. Which were pretty to watch for the most part. But at one point, someone set off something so close and so loud and so suddenly, I screamed. I'm still not sure it was a firecracker, or a jumping jack or a firework gone wrong. The sound came first and it set off car alarms and shook the ground. It was like a bomb going off. Then there was the flash. After the sound. Sound travels more slowly than light. The flash was far enough down the block that it should have come first. I was curious as to what it was, but I didn't have to walk down that block and I wasn't about to, just to sate my curiosity. Then, as I turned onto my block, someone a block or two away who couldn't wait for July 4 was doing quite a show. It was very pretty to watch as I walked down the street. As I was watching, I realized... This is going to be every night from now until sometime in the middle of July, when everyone who has spent hundreds on fireworks finally runs out. Yep. The Fourth of July is like Christmas around here for many. The one thing I find amusing is, we set off fireworks to celebrate not only the nation's birthday, but our defeat of godless communism abroad. So we all buy fireworks made in China, which is a godless communist nation and buy them on Indian reservations. You know, where we stuck the natives as we stole their land to build this country. Yep. I giggle uncontrollably when I think about that. The picture? Not far off from the grade of fireworks the average consumer can buy in this state.  |
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God i haven't been around here for that long i remember you writing about the move Glad all has worked out for you. I'm a   and i'm here to stay
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Trust me, you aint' seen nuttin' yet! When it's actually the 4th, this town lights up like Baghdad in the early days of our Iraqi invasion. "We are all worms, but i like to think of myself as a glow-worm" - Winston Churchill
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6/25/2008 12:55 pm |
We had people setting off fireworks for May graduations here in Nebraska. Ironically, it's illegal in the city of Lincoln to do that until June 30 and then people go nuts I'm told. The previous owners of my house used to do a block party right around the 4th and having the intersection of the streets next to the house blocked off for fireworks. As for creepy crawlies....I've only had issues with mosquito's and that was mowing the lawn at the farm. I got bit pretty bad, even after I sprayed on some Off! Deep woods with as much deet in it as possible. I'm leaving the site end of March. To those who want to keep in touch, see blog for details.
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aloha ann:.... hope i find u well... i guess i have a year of reading to do to catch up on why the move from joisey to oklahoma.... once again, aloha from the northshore of maui.... 
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The weird bathroom beetles have me fascinated. That's the beautiful thing about the USA. More insects and spiders than anywhere else. As for the fireworks, bring em on! I'm surprised the UK guy fawkes night isn't adopted all over the world simply as another excuse to let off fireworks. Don't ever give up searching for the fun in life.
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6/26/2008 6:43 pm |
Lol... Welcome to Tulsa... oh, and yeah, the city is infested with Rats... but the City won't do anything about it. The City refuses to even acknowledge it. After the ice storm, they were driven from the sewers, and found all kinds of nice newly destroyed trees, garages etc. to live in.... Now, with all the rain and the debris clogged storm sewers, they have no place to live but the alleys and under our houses. I talked to a lady who killed 13 of them in her backyard after the ice storm, and had never seen one in 20 years prior.
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