Today many insects ore still around, but our houses are built so that we can fairly well keep most insects out, however, because of our open door policy (huge cracks everywhere) insects of all kind inside the house were a part of our lives as I was growing up. One of the things I woke up to many mornings was the sound of dirt-dabbers building their homes inside our walls. They would be flying around everywhere, but we knew they would not sting if we left them alone, so that’s what we did and as a result, we co-inhabited in peace.
Ants were abundant both inside and outside the house and although they were unwelcome guest inside, never the less they made themselves at home. In order to keep them from stealing our food on the table, we would keep jar lids under each table leg and as long as we kept them filled with water; it kept them off fairly well.
Although Yellow jackets and wasp were usually outside, we would occasionally pass too close to their hidden nest; someone would get stung and the war was on! Unlike the dirt-dabbers, they seem to always be spoiling for a fight and we were more than willing to accommodate them.
Flies were usually prolific and were definitely a nuisance and we had to keep everything covered with clean rags to keep them from sampling our food. While they were only a terrible nuisance, the cotton-picking mosquitoes, however, was a different story. We had to spank many of them, but we became blood donors to many more. We never found a way to control them, so we reluctantly had to find a way to live with them.
While these as well as fleas, which made us miserable both inside and out, there were many other flying and crawling insects that were usually just a part of our outside world. Just something to think about!
Something To Think About 