Now you See 'Em

Noseeum, 70 times life size, by Lynn Kimsey. Picture from: Bug Squad: Happenings in the Insect World, University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, May 24, 2013 http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10473

The day was hot - the kind of hot that makes you feel suspicious about the sun’s intention.  We headed to the Grand River (the Rio Grande) first. The river is low and I (although not Chinle) can walk across it.  Still, it is a scenic river with herons and hawks and geese and ducks keeping us company as we played in the water. On the way to the bank we followed behind a car with a bumper sticker that said “Water is truth.”  I grew up around rivers, well, in them really, and I spent the better part of my childhood traipsing around red rock canyons. So I feel most at ease next to muddy currents encased in narrow slots carved into earth for eons.  I also wouldn’t know what to do if I wasn’t batting at my ears the whole time we “recreated” in those places. Funny that word, recreated. I’m not a linguist, but Oxford tells me that the word, in this sense, comes from Late Middle English via Old French from Latin recreare “create again, renew.”  And I suppose that’s exactly what we are doing when we go for a hike along a stream in a wet forest or a swim in a cold mountain lake. I suspect we are, indeed, seeking truth.  But the truth of it is that at times it just sucks...especially during noseeum season. 

Noseeums are a biting fly. There are a lot of different species but all are from the family Ceratopogonidae.  They occur in different names in most places of the world.  Even perfect Scotland has them but they are called midges there.  Like mosquitos, only the female noseeums bite. And bite they do. They are so tiny you can’t see em coming (see what the name did there? ucannoseethem).  I once heard from an old park ranger naturalist friend of mine that they are particularly interested in your head in the desert Southwest because that is where you are sweating and they are seeking moisture. I know they love my eyes and just behind my ears.  So anecdotally he must be right, although I’ve never verified that with an entomologist. Come to think of it, that same ranger once told me that rattlesnakes avoided him because he was so mean...so the source may not be all that reliable. So what is the purpose of the noseeum...what, in heaven’s name do they do?  Noseeums, from what I can tell, are put on earth to test our resolve to recreate.  As they fly close to your ear, they ask the question, over and over and over again, “how much do you really want to be here?”  As a youngster we did all sorts of crazy things to keep them away. We wore nets over our heads (it was the 80s, so we were probably close to high fashion), we bought stock in Avon’s Skin So Soft because traditional repellents like Off acted more as bait for the little SOBs.  As a little kid I imagined them licking the Off off my skin like a lollypop.  Skin so Soft is sort of oily and we were moderately into sun protection, so we lathered on Coppertone SPF 10. At the end of a long day of fun, you can picture us, two oily substances mixed with a bit of sand, dozens of dead noseeums that look from a distance like specks of pepper or very small freckles, and a lot sweat. 

Anyway...what is the purpose of noseeums?   They all reproduce - by drinking blood of course. Some of them pollinate (plants like cacao).  Some spread disease. But all of them push you to your existential edge demanding that you ask “why am I here?” They dare you to privilege spiritual renewal over bodily comfort and then they verily laugh at your feeble attempts to assert your existence beyond them.  After a couple of hours of swatting and splashing, Chinle and I decided it was time for a nap and a beer. After our rest, we wandered to one of our favorite watering holes (after a couple of beers, that bumper sticker about truth begins to make so much more sense).  Playing at the Mothership (yep, that’s its name) there was the local band (I’m not making this up), the NoSeeUms. They define themselves as as a “groove-grass” band, an eclectic mix of funky, progressive Americana and their slogan is “You’ll See Em!” Clever right?  And like the fly, they sort of zip in and out of your consciousness as they play.  I sat listening, contemplating, and smiling as I scratched the dozen or so tiny bites littered across my scalp.  An aging hippie looked at me and gestured toward my scratching, “noseeums got you?” I hid my surprise and and said wryly, “yes, and the bugs are pretty potent too.”  He laughed and got up to go dance, swaying to the music and, I suspect, renewing his spirit as the Noseeums played on.


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