Thursday, March 5, 2009

THE EINSTEIN CLUB, part 3. STUCK ON A FLY STRIP.

We have moths in our house. We've seen a dozen or so in two or three months. I am worried that they are some kind of "grain moth."

I don't want weevils--or whatever the pupa stage of this moth is--in my pantry. And if they ever got in the basement it would not be good.


So, I bought something I would have never thought I would ever need. A fly strip. Yes, I know. Disgraceful, but what do you do? Let one grain moth live and later be faced with the plagues of Egypt.

This happened to a friend of mine. She and her husband teach at BYU. They were taking a group of students to Spain for a semester abroad. They left a clean and tidy house. What they didn't know is that in some product they brought home from the grocery store there was a hitchhiker--a grain moth. Pregnant. They closed the house and in several months, when they opened the door and turned on the lights the whole room took flight--a plague of Egypt.


I have no desire to participate in a plague experiment, no matter how educational and historic.


So, up went two fly strips, one behind the pantry door and one in the basement. The pantry strip caught three moths or maybe three parts of moths. It's hard to tell.


The basement fly strip didn't catch any moths. It did catch something else. Me! Let me tell you, those suckers are sticky! No moth is escaping, unless he leaves his wings behind. I nearly tore the fly trap in half, getting my hair out of it.


I had to go upstairs and wash that part of my hair. And my hands. Again and again. Fly trap goo is stubborn.


So, I went to lunch--I was a few minutes late but she was a few minutes late plus one more minute so I didn't have to explain. I chatted and was charming and never said that I was a fly strip victim. I mean, how embarrassing is that? First, admitting you have a pest problem and then admitting you actually put up a fly strip. And then, admitting it caught you.


Here is why I don't want moths in the basement. I can see I was going to make some serious Chex mix over Christmas. Or some muddy buddies. Now what do I with all that cereal? We don't eat cereal. Anyone think Chex Mix or Muddy Buddies are a stupid thing to serve for Easter? Yah, me too.



And looking at these photos I know I need to clean and organize the basement. I think I will take down the fly strip first. No sense in tempting fate.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

How would you like to be the guy from that 1950s movie The Fly and get caught.
I remember eating in a greasy spoon diner and they had a fly strip hanging over the table. It was LOADED. Very appetizing.

whirligigdaisy said...

What are you talking about? Muddy Buddies are good any day!! (and every day).

TeamGornold said...

i hate moths, i hope you catch all those darn things!

Insightful Nana said...

Your open storage looks like mine. Your post reminds me that I need to take a serious look at my storage and put those grains into closed containers.

I've been thinking about getting a mylar sealer and putting all of my cold cereals etc. in mylar bags.
Unfortunately, I don't go to my basement very often. Out of sight.. out of mind kind of thing.

Again...Thanks for the reminder that I need to take this seriously... before the "moth" find me.

Hillary said...

I don't know why you are so concerned about weavels, you fed them to you DAUGHTER and were fine doing it. Heartless floosie.

Moths are grody. Feed them to the rat dog.

Hillary said...

Plus, I Love love love your new header picture. It is super. Our crocus blew away in the wind.

Annette said...

Actually, there is that very yummy sweet chex recipe with coconut and almonds. It is very addictive and would be great for Easter! If you don't have the recipe, I'll give it to you.

Grandma Tii said...

Yuk! I hate the thought of having to pack up my upstairs for a few years and move it to the basement. Please keep those little pests in Provo!

Shawn said...

Muddie buddies? Is that a Utah thing?

As for the cereal---was it on sale or something?

You might want to invest in tupperware to store it---it keeps most of those curmudgeons out.

Ewwww, hate moths though---I'm with you on that one!

tearese said...

remember, put out some bay leaves around your food,and you won't get Weevils!

Anonymous said...

Chex Mix?! You had fixings for Chex Mix and didn't make any?! Aaaaaaaaaaagh!

Chex Mix is Snackey Stuff of the Gods! Of course you can have it for Easter. :)