Love Bugs

 No, we are not talking about the Disney movie.  These are the real insects that invade Florida twice a year; once in April and again in September.  The urban legend surrounding them is that they were a genetic experiment at the University of Florida that went wrong.  These little buggers are everywhere.  They form clouds that get into everything.  Usually they don't bother people, but just swarm and are a big nuisance.  They mate as they fly which makes them look really weird.

By choosing to fly "united" (pardon the pun,) they are not very aerodynamic.  So, as you can imagine, they have a hard time getting out of the way of anything that moves.  Last weekend, we went up to Jacksonville to visit Bonnie, Scott and the grandkids.  We ran into a bunch of love bugs on the way up there, but luckily the rain helped to wash some of them off before we got there. Shelby and I washed the rest off of the car and were very proud of our work.  But on the way back, we really got into swarms of them.  It was super-gross when we got out to look at the front of the car.  It took quite an effort to soak them and then scrub them off   Luckily, these amorous creatures should be gone in a couple of weeks --  at least until next spring!