About.com and....

I had to drop off a few books at the library this afternoon. When I returned, I made two discoveries. The first was an e-mail from About.com notifying me that a couple of my submissions had been posted. Since it is National Dog Week, I was going to write the story of how Rebel and I met. But I do not feel compelled to do so now, since anyone with time on their hands can go to About.com and read my posted submission. In order to find my post, however, you would need to have a little time, because I did not mention Rebel's name. Nor did I sign in as Aunt Toma. Of course, I could tell you the title of my post. But I won't. Those of you who know Rebel can figure out which story is ours. The rest of you can enjoy reading the 170 or so posts. Therefore, all you dog lovers, go to About.com.: Dogs, where you can check out "Readers Respond: How Did You Find the Right Dog for You?" Plus, you can read some interesting articles.

My second discovery was not so pleasant. A swarm of bugs had descended upon my property during my brief absence today. There are literally hundreds of these insects on my deck and front part of the house. Much to my dismay, but to my cats' amusement, the bugs' apparent objective is to enter my house. And every single time the door gets opened, a few of these pests manage to enter what they believe will be their winter home. Nevertheless, it could be much worse. I suppose I could have had a swarm of those pesky borer insects which look like bumblebees descend upon my home. (Those do make an appearance every spring, but they are always few in number--which has never hindered them from doing some damage to my deck.) Fortunately, today's shield-shaped bugs seem harmless, other than the fact that they are annoying. To make things even more aggravating, I cannot open the windows now, because I know the cats would shred the screens in order to capture these live cat toys. Still, it could be worse. Let's see: wasps, mosquitoes, ticks, fleas.... Wait a minute! I already have a flea collection, which is growing by leaps and bounds, and my cats are not amused. Frankly, neither am I.