Musca domestica
Summer is here and the house fly has arrived, one of the few downsides to the season of fun. What this means for most of the world is a slight annoyance and an intensified diligence in kitchen sanitation. They buzz, we swat and life goes on as usual, especially in southern California where we don't have a candle to hold to the rest of the world's bug problems. But for Felipe Lima, it's so much more.
Felipe's world was rocked Wednesday morning when he awoke to flies buzzing tyrannically around our kitchen. He woke me up, as usual, this time in an episode of panic. He had removed all of the screens in the apartment, taken all of our plants outside, done his damnedest to exterminate the invaders with his compressed oxygen dust cleaner and, to my dismay, fastened a gallon ziplock bag half filled with water above our front door. I suggested that perhaps the root of our fly problem was our open door policy during the day. This suggestion was met with outrage. Closing the door during day light hours was not on the table for discussion, nor did it have any relevance to the problem at hand. The flies in Felipe's view were indicative of a greater issue. He would hear nothing of it.
It's been a few days, the bag is still there, and so are the flies. I wanted to be wrong, and for a second I thought I might be, but the bag has proven no match for the determination of the little guys. Sorry Fil.
The house fly as we know it today has been buzzing around for 65 million years. It's survived ice ages, mass extinctions and countless swats from elephant tusks, horse tails and hands alike. Modern inventions like the fly swatter haven't quelled the issue, and god knows if anything ever will.
Look, if you squint you can see a fly to the right of the mammoth buzzing around causing a scene. They even say that Abraham Lincoln's favorite songs was "Shoo Fly Don't Bother Me," which is as relevant then as it is now.
We'll keep the bag for now, maybe it's working its magic as we speak and I'm too blind to see. Maybe Felipe has stumbled onto a solution to the world's oldest annoyance and his genius has gone unappreciated. Like Socrates or Galileo before him, his findings have been denounced by a world not yet ready for the scope of his discovery.
Maybe, Felipe was never meant for this cruel unforgiving world.
Felipe's world was rocked Wednesday morning when he awoke to flies buzzing tyrannically around our kitchen. He woke me up, as usual, this time in an episode of panic. He had removed all of the screens in the apartment, taken all of our plants outside, done his damnedest to exterminate the invaders with his compressed oxygen dust cleaner and, to my dismay, fastened a gallon ziplock bag half filled with water above our front door. I suggested that perhaps the root of our fly problem was our open door policy during the day. This suggestion was met with outrage. Closing the door during day light hours was not on the table for discussion, nor did it have any relevance to the problem at hand. The flies in Felipe's view were indicative of a greater issue. He would hear nothing of it.
It's been a few days, the bag is still there, and so are the flies. I wanted to be wrong, and for a second I thought I might be, but the bag has proven no match for the determination of the little guys. Sorry Fil.
The house fly as we know it today has been buzzing around for 65 million years. It's survived ice ages, mass extinctions and countless swats from elephant tusks, horse tails and hands alike. Modern inventions like the fly swatter haven't quelled the issue, and god knows if anything ever will.
Look, if you squint you can see a fly to the right of the mammoth buzzing around causing a scene. They even say that Abraham Lincoln's favorite songs was "Shoo Fly Don't Bother Me," which is as relevant then as it is now.
We'll keep the bag for now, maybe it's working its magic as we speak and I'm too blind to see. Maybe Felipe has stumbled onto a solution to the world's oldest annoyance and his genius has gone unappreciated. Like Socrates or Galileo before him, his findings have been denounced by a world not yet ready for the scope of his discovery.
Maybe, Felipe was never meant for this cruel unforgiving world.
Labels: Common House Fly, Felipe Lima
posted by andrew at
7:08 PM
4 Comments:
Biting my anecdotal/ informative style, are you?
style? is that what you call your bulleted babble? word.
blog wars
1) felipe's remedy of zip-lock bag hanging is widely used in the home some of word's most versed fly adversaries, south americans. I don't know if the san diego limas are still using the bag method. Another great fly combatant people: the australians. You gotta love that cork on a string that they dangle from the hat. Very cute. Weather you have actually been to australia or just spend alot of time making fun of australians as I do, you should know what im talking about.
2) I appreciate the fact that the andrew-felipe roomate power struggle is now being played out on blogs. Its hard to be away sometimes, and even though im not there i am now able to follow the daily subject mater, its good to know whats going on. I only wish i could be in that bed, sleeping unapolegetically until 4 in the afternoon. Whose bed do I prefer? Well wouldn't they like to know.
3) I like to see a little game of blog based grab ass going on. liz, I think you've got style.
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