So you can imagine why moving into a slightly more urban area would cause an unsettling shock to system for one huge reason:
Mosquito spray trucks.
Ian and I walk Winnie every evening for about an hour. It's built into our routine, a time for Winnie to trot and explore, and Ian and me to jabber about our day and get some exercise.
Oh happy times
I was not personally acquainted with mosquito spray trucks until last summer. We'd be happily walking the dog, hear the dreaded high-pitch hum of the truck, and scurry back home to avoid getting showered with poison.
We'd been lucky to always be close to home when we heard the squeal of the Truck 'O Doom. But last night, we ran out of luck. Here's a play-by-play of how we narrowly escaped billowing pesticides:
Last Night:
8:01- Hurrah! Another nightly walk. The dog's excited, the sun's setting, and we're ready to go.
8:03- Jabber, jabber, talk, talk. Watch the dog earnestly sniff fire hydrants and water the plants.
8:05- Look at all the kids skateboarding, riding bikes, and playing basketball. How nice.
8:07- Uh oh. Oh god. Is that.....? OH, DEAR GOD, NO.
8:08- Listen in horror to the beeping, squealing truck chugging along, spewing organophosphates and synthetic pyrethroids into the evening sky.
8:09- Moment of truth: It will soon turn on this street.
8:09 and a half- Moment of decision: RUN, DAMN YOU, RUN.
8:10- We flee, pounding down the sidewalk, desperate to beat the truck.
8:11- Feel impressed by how quickly the eight-pound dog can run.
8:12- Feel concerned over my rapidly declining energy. How did I deteriorate so quickly? So...tired....so...old.
8:13- The truck turns onto the street we're fleeing. GOT TO FIND SECOND-WIND.
8:14- Ian finds his second-wind. Actually, he never lost his first-wind.
8:15- Ian darts through a yard as the poison truck closes in. I'm slowing down, exhausted, defeated, imagining a world of tumors and lowered IQ. I turn and see the truck grind closer, belching neurotoxins and carcinogens. I suddenly find more energy.
8:16- I dart through the yard after Ian, laughing manically.
8:17- Ian yells, "We can cut through another yard and hop the fence! Hurry!"
8:18- Ian hops a chain-link fence. I hand Winnie to Ian and artfully flop over the fence.
8:19- We are next to our yard, one more fence to go. Ian snags our old pool ladder, still in our yard from last summer.
8:20- The rednecks win. We use the ladder to climb over the final fence. We barrel towards the house, furiously run inside, and slam the door shut.
8:21- Victory is ours. Rejoice.
8:23- Read multiple scientific articles on the internet about the effects of mosquito spray on humans. Read the words, "reproductive cancers."
8:24- And then I died.
The End.
Hahahahahah.....it is amazing you all got away alive ;)
ReplyDeleteI know, right! They're like giant sharks on wheels.
DeleteOh, God, the mosquitoes here will carry you away! When the Mosquito truck comes by, we THROW MONEY AT IT. West Nile Virus, God-knows-what-else - mosquitoes suck!
ReplyDeleteDue to budget cuts, they stopped spraying for a month. We could not leave the house, even to buy food. Things were looking pretty grim.
When the truck came by, we all threw rose petals before it and said hosannas.
Maybe I'll die of cancer in 40 years. But in the meantime, no West Nile, no Lyme Disease, no whatever.
Risks have to be evaluated and triaged. Chlorine in the water may be bad, cholera in the water is even worse - and more likely to kill you NOW as opposed to later....
When I was a kid, they used to drive a truck down the beach with the letters "DDT" on the side of it. Mom would say, "go stand behind that truck, it'll keep the bugs off ya!"
Ain't dead yet....
I, too, enjoy the cholera-free water! And I agree that you have to assess risks and benefits. I put flea preventatives on my dog every month, although I cringe at the thought of all those flea-killing chemicals pumping through her glands. Alas, the benefits of the flea meds far outweigh the risks, in my mind.
DeleteI just get a bit agitated that the city insists on pumping widespread pesticides in the air. I never know when they spray, and I shudder at walking along and getting a full blast of it in my face.
If I want mosquito-control, I can slather myself in DEET-filled Off or I can apply small levels of hippie, all-natural pseudo OFF. I realize I'm heading to a slippery slope, but when it comes to direct exposure to pesticides, I would prefer the ability to assess the risks and benefits, look at the science, and then act according to my best judgement.
Also, when I was reading up on the mosquito spray trucks, I read about how children used to follow the trucks around the block as they sprayed! As you can imagine, the city now suggests that children refrain from such behavior :-D
Running is probably the worst response - your heavy breathing gets that stuff deep into your lungs.....
ReplyDeleteIn fight or flight scenarios, I always flee!
DeleteThat thought did occur to me, but Ian and I were most concerned with not getting a direct hit. So we ran and luckily didn't get hit with the full blast.