Return of the Nutwoodians

We are back!

I will have more to write about our adventures, especially our super cool Big Zombie Tour (3!), but I am very happy to be home. No matter where we roam, there is no place like right here. I could even make a rhyme and say “there is no place like home,” but I think that’s been done before.

I love exploring and visiting other places, but I really do love our place. It has been my sanctuary for almost 15 years and it is still my favorite place to be.

But there are times when it is a bit of a struggle and this is one of those times. Right before we left for Florida, we started seeing a major increase in the mosquito population here due to our massive rain and extensive flooding in the area. They began to swarm and Shane and Matt (who so kindly took care of Mr. Sheeba while we were gone!) said that it was almost a plague. It is still absolutely insane and they swarm around the car and around anyone who dares to venture out!

I didn’t get one single mosquito bite in Florida, but I got one within five minutes of being in the house!

The Zika virus hasn’t been found this far north so far, but we do have shitty things like West Nile virus. I’m reasonably certain that I will die of some sort of mosquito-borne illness. Malaria or Yellow Fever or something like that.

It infuriates me that Congress is so derelict in their duties that they refuse to fund Zika virus research. Glad you got to take your summer break, Congress. Sure hope none of your family members got bitten by mosquitoes—especially if those family members happen to be pregnant. In the meantime, while you were vacationing, there are over 200 pregnant women in the U.S. who have been diagnosed with Zika. I cannot imagine how scared those women are.

What really infuriates me is that there was a bill to fund emergency Zika research and immediate action, but the Republicans added a provision to defund Planned Parenthood, and of course, the Democrats refused to be extorted. (I support their refusal to fund that bill.)

Really? You are going to attach your partisan politics to a bill that will help PREGNANT WOMEN who might contract a virus that damages fetuses? Do you even understand what you are doing? Do you even care about these women and the children they will bear who might be severely deformed and will cost millions of dollars to support?

UGH. Get your shit together and start addressing public health, whether it’s Zika virus or antibiotic resistance or gun violence! It is all a matter of public health!

Even when you go on vacation, the real world intrudes, doesn’t it?