Waiting for Supper

The black mayflies/giant gnats have arrived.  Every year in early spring they come out in droves, and they are the nastiest little biting bugs ever.  I can handle swarms of mosquitos, but these little flies bite so big they actually take a hunk of flesh out with them, so much that blood drips down your skin and you are left behind with enormous nasty lumps of itchiness.  Their favorite biting places are the nape of the neck and behind the ears, and often fleshy parts of the face.  The first year we moved to Minnesota I was seriously alarmed, but luckily enough, they really only last for about two or three weeks, and then they die off.  

However, they really do a number on children, so on breezeless nights like this one, we end up eating inside, even though the weather is perfect.  While supper was cooking, the bitten up kidlets kept busy with some button sorting, the geoboards, and our colorful stepped pyramid.  

The nasty bugs seem to prefer the forest and backyard (they like moving water and streams) rather than the beach, so after supper we packed up and moved down to Lake Superior to enjoy the perfect weather.