It’s officially summer. I have the proof. Thoroughly dotted with raised whelps under my knees, on top of my knees, wrists, elbows and legs, I tell the tale of the dreaded mosquitoes. I am their equivalent to hard drugs or liquor. They can’t pass me up or pass me by. I can be standing in a crowd and nobody else gets bitten. My husband says I am his organic ‘off’. He needs no other protection if I am around.
Once at an outdoor theater, and before it was deemed harmful, I sprayed myself liberally with DEET. It sure kept them away from my arms and legs, but they got a belly full from my scalp, ears, and even inside my nose. Yikes! I’d just as soon have the bites where I can scratch.
We used to go to Chincoteague,Virginia – a wildlife preserve and wetlands on the Eastern Shore – every year when our son was small. It is such a lovely place with wild ponies, native unspoiled beach, and an old lighthouse, with many trails that wind through the park – perfect for biking or hiking. But the mosquitoes are their state bird! Honestly! I would be miserable from the itching and scratching. Except for one time when I had a spider bite and was taking an antibiotic. It seemed like they would come near me, sense the antibiotic and buzz off to irritate someone else.
I guess it really is part of the DNA to have the right pheromones or blood types that just attract these little suckers.
There is a thing-a-ma-bob doo-hickey that clips on your chair or on your clothes that I had a bit of success with last year, called the ‘Off Clip On”. It requires refill disks and batteries, so unless I am fully prepared and have it on all of the time – yes, even for quick trips to empty the trash – they can find and devour me before I make it back. So I for one, am stocking up on these.
Let me know if you have success with a deterrent. I have tried the skin-so-soft spray and the plants that are supposed to ward off the tiny vampires, but neither worked for me. The citronella candles don’t work really well for me either. Maybe I should just stay indoors until October.
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Writingfeemail's Blog 
Better not go to Alaska. Until then, we didn’t realized just how long we left the cab door open while getting in and out of the truck. We’d get a swarm inside and if they didn’t bite you to death, that little high-pitched zzzz-zz-zzz-z-zzzz noise they make flitting about would make you crazy until every one of them was tracked down.