By Gawd, you know the board is slow when I feel the need to post about a freakin' bug. But here goes. I've always heard the term No-See-Ums and thought it was just a slang term for getting bit by skeeters and other biting flies etc. whilst out fishing or hunting or whatever. No, it's a real thing. Sunday, we met some friends at the beach for the day. On the way out of town, we decided to get something to eat and hit a restaurant off 79 out of Panty Bra City called Boondocks. Never been and it was on the way. It's set on the water in a very wooded area, and since we couldn't go in, we just dropped the tailgates, broke out the beach chairs and ate in the parking lot.
We kept getting zapped by these little creatures and no, we couldn't see um. Then, I started seeing one or two and damn, it's about 1/4 the size of a gnat. Something that small is not supposed to pack a punch like that. It was really more of an annoyance than anything else, but after about 15 minutes, it was a huge annoyance, so we loaded up and hit the road. Didn't think much else about it until last night. Those little red dots became welts. And then they started itching. And then nothing I put on them stopped the itching. It's Wednesday and I look like I rolled in a fire ant bed. My arms, legs and neck are covered.
I even looked the little bastards up on the Googled Chromes and yep, it's a tiny, biting fly with one of those long, scientific names like Ceratopogopanie or some shit. First off, I'm never going to Boondocks again, and second, I'm not laughing when someone slaps their arm and says, "Damn No See Ums".