Houseguests

The corn is coming down around Friuli. You can see for miles now. Long stretches of fields that were hiding homes before seem bare. Now all the critters that were living as high as an elephant's eye are now...at your house!

Meet the stink bug



This little guy was living in my mailbox.

They will invade your house. Any chance to sneak in through a cracked window or an open door will be taken full advantage of by hoards of these guys. Okay, maybe it's not quite the plague of stink bugs that I'm making it out to be, but they will get just about everywhere.

The good news is that they are merely a nuisance. They don't bite, sting, or eat your favorite sweaters. They just fly around and bump into the walls and windows. They've run me out of our bedroom a night or two because the thudding was too annoying to sleep but that's about the extent of it.

We're told not to smash them because that's when they stink. I haven't tried so I don't know if that's actually true. I'm not a big bug smasher by nature so I probably won't be finding out. I tend to scoop them up and put them back outside.

The young ones are bright green then they tend to turn brown. A brown stink bug won't be around much longer.

They don't stick around for too long. A few months then everything will be back to normal. Just when you think you can't handle them any longer, they'll be gone.

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While we're talking about things to be prepared for, if you weren't here last fall and winter. It rains a lot. A LOT. An almost unbearable amount.

If you're from the Northwest U.S. or maybe the U.K., you probably think I'm crazy. But last year, I felt like I was in one of those old Vietnam movies and would do just about anything for dry feet! I'll swear to it that gangrene was near setting it.

I think it takes a full 6 months of rain to have to beautiful, bountiful Spring that Italy has. That doesn't make it any more comfortable though.

So if you don't have any of these yet

Get some quick!

The BX carries a few pairs of children's rainboots. I've found children's rainboots off-base at Emisfero and Ipercoop as well. What I haven't found much of is adult-size rainboots off or on base. And if you're kind of choosy about color/design, you may find that you need to order some online.

You won't see many Italian ladies wearing rainboots, even if it's a torrential downpour outside. But these are the same ladies who wear heels to market on cobbled streets. Doesn't make sense to me, so I gladly stick to my rainboots even if it does occasionally garner an odd look here and there.

After all, I have to keep the gangrene at bay!