I love precipitation.  Add to that how desperately we need it and you’ll understand my appreciation for the rain we received during the last two days.  Sure, it wasn’t enough to break the drought — hell, it wasn’t enough to even put a dent in it — but it was welcome nonetheless.  At this point, we’ll take what we can get.

But there’s an adverse side effect of rain that I’m not particularly fond of.  It washes away my perimeter defenses on the patio.  That fine layer of Sevin dust that I so carefully plan and execute to protect myself from the insect pestilence has now been washed away entirely.  What little remains is nearest the doors, something for which I’m thankful, of course, yet the exterior edges are completely unprotected now.  When I stepped outside this morning to give offering to the birds and squirrels, I was made aware of why it is so important for me to keep my patio shield at full power.

There were ants everywhere, and not just a few or a dozen.  There had to be a hundred of them if there was one.  And they weren’t alone.  There were earwigs, a few centipedes, and two small beetles I did not recognize.  I also found some bizarre little creatures I have yet to identify despite seeing them recently squirming about just outside of the fence.  They are small, light-colored, worm-like things, although they are not worms for they have legs, but they only have legs (at least that I can see) at the fronts of their bodies, and they twist and wriggle about with an apparent lack of mobility skills.  They seem parasitic in some way, although that is based solely on observation and gut feeling.  The various lizards hunt them and often leap from the bushes in predatory attacks as these small creatures make themselves easy targets with their directionless writhing on the ground.  Two of those devils were on the patio this morning as well, and in their usual fashion, they were aimlessly twisting and turning and getting nowhere fast.

The contemptuous way in which these various insect beasts pervade my outside refuge as soon as my guard is down can be considered nothing short of invasive and cruel.  Especially the ants given my severe allergy to their stings.

Despite the ongoing incursion that besets me this morning, I did not reinforce the borders and otherwise dispatch the loitering armies of mayhem that now enjoy relatively unencumbered access to my sanctuary.  The ground is still wet and any Sevin dust put down now would undoubtedly cake into useless ground cover.  For now, the evil minions are free to roam and explore and hunt.  They still can not approach the doors without wading through the toxin that survived the rainfall.  That will do for now.  As the day progresses and the heat serves to evaporate what little moisture remains, I am armed and ready to do battle with the marauding pests that even now taunt me from just outside my home.  Their time will come, I assure you.  I will first sweep them all to the outer edges of the patio, a move as much meant to relocate them as it is to clear the rain debris, and then I will engage my full forces in a launched strike that will lay waste the advancing creatures and once again ensure the safety of the patio.

At least until it rains again, or the wind blows hard enough to move the dust, or I am forced to sweep the patio…  But I shall endure and prevail, I say, for my home is my castle, and the deadly moat of killer dust will be maintained and strengthened as needed.  I will not be intimidated, and I will not be held captive or laid seige to.  Intended mainly to stop the ants, the rest of the insect community must also be made aware of my resolve in this matter, so they too shall suffer under the weight of my retaliation.

So there.