10. The Battle of Moon Lake
The Battle of Moon Lake
June 8th found me at Moon Lake Wayside, near Tok, Alaska. I was finally getting into what Alaskans call “the interior” and many consider it the “real” Alaska. At 60 degrees N. it is about the same latitude as Oslo, Norway. It was a remote location, I couldn’t get a single station on the van’s radio, AM or FM.
It was quite warm, T-shirt weather, and the mosquitoes were out in force. There seemed to be more of them than in Southeast Alaska and they were hungrier. I put mosquito repellent on my list as a must for the next shopping stop. Thank goodness my van had screened windows, otherwise I would have been eaten alive.
At this point it didn’t get dark at all. There was an evening twilight that gradually turned into a morning twilight, and then another day began. It was hard to make yourself hit the sack when at 10:30 p.m. it looked like 5:30 p.m. outside. I had to laugh when I thought of all the ways I had planned to provide my own light:
the van’s DC system,
an AC light for when AC was available,
a battery operated lantern,
a propane lantern,
a kerosene lantern,
candles,
two flashlights,
and I didn’t need any of them! The Sun was doing an interesting number on both Georgia and me. However, logic, if nothing else, told me that eventually I must sleep. So at what seemed an appropriate time by my wrist watch, I entered my mosquito shelter and tried.
Moon Lake was a very pleasant spot, and interesting, with float planes taking off and landing right past my camping site. It was also free as are all State campgrounds in Alaska. I decided to stay two days.
“Damn! That’s the fourth one in a row!”
My van seemed to have sprung a mosquito leak. At first I thought they were just a few that got closed in when the door was shut. Every time I opened the door a few always got in, but this seemed like too many! They came at me one at a time. They waited until I was almost asleep then one would show up with its characteristic hummmm. It seemed as if they found some devious and obscure little entry and they were lined up there waiting to crawl through in single file.
I finally got up in the middle of the so-called night to see if I could spot their trick. The screens were covered with mosquitoes milling about like a convention of some industrial association debating how to gain entry to this vast new market. I really couldn’t see that they were making any progress in their deliberations. The answer must have been struck upon in some subcommittee and the news hadn’t hit the convention floor yet.
“Well, thank goodness for that!”
I really wasn’t getting bitten much because being rather large mosquitoes they were noisy and since it wasn’t dark they were sitting ducks for a well aimed slap. They were, however, fearless in their attack. Again and again they charged with fixed bayonets. Again and again my anti-aircraft knocked them out of the skies. As far as I could tell, I was winning the battle, but I wasn’t getting any sleep either. Their strategy became apparent. They would lose all the battles but win the war. Suddenly there were more. The subcommittee must have made its report to the full convention.
“And thick and fast they came at last
and more and more and more.”
Lewis Carrol, from The Walrus and the Carpenter
Finally, just when it looked like my fate was to be sucked dry, a miracle! A strong breeze sprang up accompanied by rain. The mosquito forces broke off their attack. With a sigh of relief, I drifted off to sleep.
I can almost feel sorry for them in a way. There are so many of them and so few of us to bite. I’m sure that many are born, live briefly, and die without ever getting a single meal. No wonder they are so voracious.
It’s interesting that we use the Spanish word almost exclusively to name these pests. In Spanish “mosca” is “fly” so “mosquito” is “little fly.” I couldn’t even think of the English equivalent, but Webster told me the English word is “midge.” I guess I had heard that.
Even Georgia was subject to mosquito attacks. They couldn’t get to her except where her fur was short around her face and ears. She walked around with a little cloud of mosquitoes dancing in front of her eyes. It reminded me of that character from Li’l Abner who always had a little cloud right above his head that rained in his face all the time. Georgia took a number out of action with a quick snap of her jaws. She also swung at them with her paws, but didn’t get good results that way.
In the morning I surveyed the battlefield. The dead soldiers of the mosquito army lay all about me. They were contorted into grotesque positions, evidence of agonizing deaths. A few still twitched now and then. An examination of my body revealed that their efforts hadn’t been entirely in vain. A few brave individuals got one last meal off an exposed extremity before they went off to mosquito heaven.
Then I made a telling discovery. The passenger’s side door was not closed completely! Human error strikes again!
No comments yet.
Leave a comment
Categories
- THE GALLERY
- Uncle Rob's Art
- 3D Works (stills) I
- 3D Works (stills) II
- 3D Works (stills) III
- 3D Works (video)
- Design & Abstract I
- Design & Abstract II
- Design & Abstract III
- Figurative Works I
- Figurative Works II
- Landscapes I
- Landscapes II
- Largest Art Project
- Nautical and Marine Images (video)
- Nautical and Marine Images I
- Nautical and Marine Images II
- Nautical and Marine Images III
- Nautical and Marine Images IV
- Portraits
- Still Life Images
- Stump Hollow Photo Essay I
- Stump Hollow Photo Essay II
- Uncle Rob's Mendocino Shop
- The Five Sense Series
- Irene's Creations
- Works by Don Mason
- Works by Don Mason II
- Works by Joseph de Borde
- Painting by Albert Robbins
- Art by Leslie Masters Villani
- Paintings by Nellie Harriet Parker
- The Art of Bee Yearian
- Works by Evie Wilson
- Uncle Rob's Art
- SCHOONER MOON BOOKS
- SEA STORIES
- ONE DOZEN AND TWO ESSAYS
- Cousinhood
- Art by Definition
- Cake Mixed Economy
- Marriage Anyone?
- Sex and/or Violence
- Searching for Truth
- The Philosophical Roots of Science
- Stepping Stones and Stumbling Blocks
- On Being Good
- Teaching By Example
- The Basic Law of Civilization
- Where Goeth Evil?
- A Modern Empircal "Religion"
- Knowledge as Wealth
- PAPERS AND ARTICLES
- FAMILY STORIES
- BOOK REVIEWS
Archive
- December 2021
- October 2020
- June 2020
- September 2019
- July 2017
- March 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- February 2015
- January 2015
- February 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- August 2013
- June 2013
- August 2012
- July 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- November 2011
- September 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008