Berries Beat Bugs

I have heard about these flies that are out this time of year. They call them hirvikärpänen, which literally means "Moose Fly" but thats not what they're called in English. Anyway, they come down from the tops of the trees and try to glide on you. Their wings don't work so well, and they only have one chance at this. When told this, I obviously asked the most important question - "Do they bite?" No was the reply, and the topic of conversation would move on to something more interesting.

Yesterday I went on yet another hike in Teijo with my good friend Jukka. Some where along the trail he pointed out one hirvikärpänen on my shirt. It looked just like a deformed little black fly moving slowly up my shirt sleeve. I calmly brushed him of in what happened to be Jukka's direction. "Don't do that!" Whats the big deal? I had to ask. Well, turns out that they crawl up your body to your nose or eyes and try to lay eggs. Hahahhh... great. The next 20 minutes I couldn't stop frantically brushing every part of my clothing. I mean, sure it turns out that they move really slow, can only reproduce well in a moose, and the chances are very slim of them doing any harm, but the idea was more then disturbing.

But then we stumbled on a berry patch and all thoughts of bugs on my checks were forgotten. Tons of tasty goodness. The blue berries were perfect, the red ones a little ripe, and the two raspberries topped off the meal. So in the end, it was all worth it. Needless to say though, I washed my hair more then once as soon as I was home.

Anyway, the Swedish king was in town on Saturday, but I didn't get to see him.