Snow will soon blanket the city and personally – I am looking forward to it. I love the change in activities that winter brings (like knitting) and the change in cuisine (hearty stews and toasty bread). Some of my friends and family are already heading south and although I love you all dearly – I will NOT be visiting you for at least another year. A year ago I declared a two year moratorium on destinations in tropical climates. Why? The mosquito. Mosquitoes love me. I am the black truffle to mosquito palate – they will fly miles and miles to get a taste of me. Yes – I taste that good. My mosquito problem really began several years ago when I was working in Grenada – teaching at a yearly two week intensive.
The first year in Grenada was the worst. The house we were staying at was set up in the lush hills. With lush hills – you get bugs – lots and lots of bugs. The mosquitoes feasted on me day and night. You would have thought that air conditioning would have slowed down the little suckers – but noooo. Then again – maybe it did and I just didn’t know it. I bought citronella candles – I bought mosquito repellent. The end result? 150 mosquito bites. The itching was so bad that it was almost impossible to sleep. Calamine lotion was useless. Then I found those Benadryl sticks at the pharmacy – you know – that allergy medicine that you apply directly to the bite? It does lessen the itch BUT there was a small problem. I found out that you can OD on Benadryl – well – you can OD on Benadryl when you apply it to 150 bites. I got light headed, heart palpitations and almost passed out. Damn – just when things were looking up.
The next year in Grenada I came armed with a mosquito net and a natural product for bug bites – which smelled like ammonia – gross – but effective. The teaching staff was again housed in the same place. Although I got bitten on the way to the studio, at the studio and on the way home from the studio – I did get some relief from the bugs under my mosquito net – which was a good thing because the air conditioner was gone. True – it was a bit irritating and tiresome to spend a good portion of my evening trapped under a net – but it significantly reduced the mosquito snacking – a mere 70 bites! Staying under the net really helped – that plus the fact that one of my roommates and I bombed the apartment nightly with an industrial strength bug spray. I had some fleeting thoughts about the carcinogens that we were inhaling but desperate people do desperate things.
The third year in Grenada started with a marked improvement. We were housed near the beach (less bug friendly foliage). I had my mosquito net, my natural bug repellent, my citronella candles and I am happy to say that all my precautions paid off – only 40 bites! Two days after I got back home, I was working outside in my yard when I suddenly got very tired – it felt like someone had just pulled my plug. “I’m gonna go and lie down for a bit” – I told my friend Amanda. A bit? Try a two week lie down! One of those damn mosquitoes had given me Dengue Fever – a mild form of malaria!
So once again – my dear friends and family – enjoy your time in the sun and warmth. I send you my good thoughts and I will see you again when you come back to the great white north.