Let me just start off by saying that I love my mom, despite her endless issues. She’s a good kid and I definitely think she’s going places. One thing about her that makes me question these latter feelings is what my household is calling The Gnat Problem.
See, my mother loves me, but even more than me, she loves plants. Our house is filled with money plants, rubber plants, curry leaf trees, aloe veras, vines, ferns and all sorts of coniferous and deciduous green beasts. I have accepted this for most of my life and have lived in harmony with these plants. Unlike other pesky things that might live with you, such as pets or other human beings, plants are pretty chill and mostly keep to themselves. When you talk to them about how insecure you are about being a film major unable to carry sound equipment, they listen. They understand. They heal.
But recently, there has been a new development amongst our enclosed suburban jungle. These tiny little flies have been hovering incessantly around my mom’s plants. Although the gnats can be killed with one pinch of the finger, they reproduce like the heads of the Hydra. Soon enough, they weren’t just flying around the plants but all over the house. I would sit down to read—fly in my face. I would wash the dishes—two flies! I would mercilessly destroy my sister in Just Dance, and I swear I could see the flies celebrating along with me.
We tried everything in our attempts to vanquish these pests. I laid out colorful sticky fly traps in the shapes of butterflies and stars, which the flies initially loved, but I think they soon caught onto what was happening to their brethren and stopped sticking to them. Dish soap and apple cider vinegar solutions proved futile and only stank up our house. I finally suggested to my mom, “Hey, what if you put some of these plants outside?” She gasped in shock as if I had asked her to sacrifice a newborn.
So, dear reader, I am writing all of this just to tell you that I am simply enjoying a fly-free life before I have to go home for winter break. This Christmas season, take some time to appreciate the little things in your life that aren’t fly-infested. I know I do. Everything about Vassar seems so romantic now—the constantly messy laundry rooms shine a little darker, seem a little dirtier. The cold December air feels pleasant to breathe in when it’s not being permeated by fruit flies. Ahhhh. This is bliss.
#Likki #enjoying #moments #freedom #Miscellany #News
