Loretta Humble

By Loretta Humble/Around the Town

I told you last week I had just about overcome the moths that were taking over my house in the country. I was mistaken. Just like the zombies, they came back, mindless fluttering little robots, thicker and more persistent than ever. Insect bombs don’t even phase them.

Carl has gone to counting them as he swats them. His highest count was well over 100. I keep looking for their food supply. I found a shaker of gravy mix that looked like some had been there, but it couldn’t have bred that many. I really think they are eating that blown-on ceiling stuff. I know I should call an exterminator like Pest Control Pros. But this has got personal. I want to do them in myself, I’ll give it a try at least and then go to the Pros if I fail.

And now I know what to do. I’m just waiting for it to come in the mail from Amazon. It’s “The Pantry Pest Trap” that lures male moths in where they get stuck to its walls. It has a time released pheromone that smells like lady moths, that will last more than 3 months and covers a 1000 foot area.

This stuff works. I used it a long time ago. However, I read in the comments on Amazon that its only problem is the sticky stuff isn’t strong enough, and many males do get away. One commenter said the way to remedy that was to get a fly paper strip, take the pheromone patches out of the traps and attach them to the fly paper. Of course then you have to look at a fly paper strip hanging in your house. I wonder if there is a way to disguise a fly paper strip. I could put a little curtain around it. They sure do like to get in everywhere they aren’t supposed to—maybe if I hid it, they would like it even better. Continue reading “The Mothpocalypse Continues”

By Loretta Humble/Around the Town

I had a birthday this last week. Birthdays get you to thinking. I am now 76 years old, closer to 80 than to 70. That’s pretty old. I don’t feel that old, especially since I got my knee fixed. I’m ever grateful to the people living with me here in senior living in Florida, because their jocundity is contagious and they never make me feel old.

I got a lot of nice things. I got some doors, and some tomato plants, and some flowers, and a watermelon, and some money. And three birthday parties, got sung to way too many times, and was wished happy birthday on Facebook about a hundred times. I also got a card from Angie Miller, saying she wants to be just like me when she grows up. I’m not sure either one of us will ever grow up, but I loved the sentiment. And actually I wouldn’t mind being more like Angie, who is a super person herself.

I had already been thinking for some time about who I want to be like. The latest one is Betty Pogue, one of my favorite residents at Cedar Lake Nursing Home. Betty is almost exactly 10 years older than me. Betty has some infirmities which HIPPA laws forbid me to talk about, but overall she is doing great. I want to be like Betty in 10 years. She is definitely still in charge of her own life. She nearly always has a smile on her face, unless she is mad, and then that doesn’t last long. She keeps busy every day making things which she gives away, and is always on the lookout for good she can do. But she doesn’t mind straightening us out here at the nursing home when she thinks we get on the wrong track. And she prays for us. Her kids love her, and come to see her because they want to, not because it is their duty. I admire her spirit so much I’ve asked Celene Terry to use her as a model for a spunky old lady in her series of paintings of women who live their lives well. Continue reading “Around the Town: Who Loretta Wants to be Like When She Grows Up”