I think for the first week in three months now, we haven’t had any 100+ degree days. The constant, unrelenting heat keeps more than just people inside; it moves the bugs there too.

Around the rear of our house, we’ve had an ant problem for a solid month. Repeatedly setting down traps and spraying spray doesn’t seem to keep them from coming inside. Usually (my experience, anyway) ants come inside looking for food; this year, I suspect it’s water. Outside the house you can see them, trying to work their way underneath doors or through even the smallest cracks.

I can’t remember a year that I’ve seen more spiders, either. A few of them have managed to make their way inside, but even more of them are outside the house, surrounding it. Our little plastic Rubbermaid shed is full of them, and I see them in the garage quite a bit too. I don’t know if they’re looking for food, water, or shade, but there they are. I’ve seen a lot of brown recluse and black widow spiders this year as well, too.

Friends of mine are also reporting tons of tick problems this year. We always have tick problems whenever we have a mild winter. We had a mild winter. Ticks are everywhere. I hate ticks.

The other day while sitting on the couch, Susan saw one of those big, fat, hairy bees banging into the window, over and over, trying to get inside. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. It had the perfect makings of the beginning of a horror movie. “The Bees …”