Fly Factory

After having enjoyed our usual winter hiatus from plaguing flies for lo, these many months, for some very odd reason, we are suddenly inundated with flies--inside the house--in mid-December--after single-digit temperatures outdoors.

Can anyone help us figure out where the fly factory might be?

We've peered into and sniffed out all the corners and can't smell or see anything bad.

We first noticed the uptick in the fly population two days ago. By this evening we had killed dozens of flies. Hiromi did his corralling maneuver several times. This consists of turning on the light in the bathroom and then systematically turning off all the other lights, starting with the ones farthest away from the bathroom. When the flies have congregated in the bathroom, Hiromi shuts the door and starts swatting. It's fairly effective, only after dark, of course.

During Sunday dinner and the dishwashing afterward, the favored fly landing spots were the dining room and kitchen windows. Bad move. Flies are easy to kill there. It didn't give us a huge feeling of satisfaction though. Low tech warfare is not very tidy, and I'd really prefer Sunday dinner without the drama and visual distastefulness of squashed flies.

I've been telling people I can't believe how December is flying by. I should have said I can't believe how flies are flying by in December. The ones we haven't gotten to with the swatters yet. Wish us luck.




I can't remember anything like this ever happening before.