… to open my car door when I go to the Crossfit gym.

The field by the parking lot is swarming with deer flies (genus Chrysops, family Tabanidae). This morning when I pulled in, ten of these angry beasts landed on the windshield, determined to get to me.

Now, I can appreciate them as well as any other insect. They are beautiful, complex creatures with a vital role in the ecosystem. But there is something maddening about giant buzzing flies which pummel into you at full speed, bouncing off your forehead and crawling in your ears, which could bite you with their steak-knife-like mouthparts at any moment. Especially when there are dozens of them following you around.

Welcome to summer.