Scribbling #16: Slovak wildlife and weather

The British culture is somewhat hinged around talking about the weather. This means that if you have been talking to someone who is new to you and happens to be from the UK, then you know that you have got to the 'just about friend' stage, as they are comfortable in talking to you about the completely obvious. Statements would include:

'Wow, it really rained today, didn't it?' while wearing the biggest raincoat ever;

'Wow, it's really hot today, isn't it?' having just been sunburnt. (Really hot in UK means anything over 20C);

'Wow, it's really windy today, isn't it?' after your umbrella has just been gutted.

Either that or they just switched to default setting and they really do hate you, one of the two.

Slovakia has a rather inventive weather system, basically called the 'whatever' system. It might still be freezing in March at eleven below, and then jump straight to 18C within a week. At the moment we've had rains, lightning storms, 30C weather, blue sunny skies, all in the course of a week.

Which brings us amazingly neatly onto the wildlife.

Bear with me.

Since there has been so much rain, lots of fields have been flooded, giving an impression that there has been a lake shortage and we're due for a catch up. All this water has also meant that a certain type of insect can lay its eggs in there, and hey presto, we have plenty of them. The sudden mosquito plague has been one of vast annoyance for myself and for just about everyone else living here. Not to mention the big momma flies that swoop in, steal a baby from its pram, then fly away again, giggling.

Okay, an exaggeration.

Maybe.

A lot of the back roads are surrounded by these stagnant-water-covered-fields, so when you drive down them it creates another type of 'rain' all over your windscreen. The pitter-patter of baby and adult mosquitoes flying into the windshield, with the last thing going through their tiny brains being their backside, will certainly be a memory of mine that may linger for a while, if not cherish.