The European Perspective

I have been living in the French countryside for the last few months. The view of the Rhone Valley is gorgeous, and my first experience planting and caring for my own garden is a rewarding one. The only bothersome detail is that I'm particularly sensitive to bug bites, and somehow over here the bugs that bite are completely invisible--rather like No-See-Ums. What is a No-See-Um? [Thanks to Epestsupply.com for the image.] "You might not know what a No-See-Um looks like because of its tiny size, but if one bites, you won’t miss it! The No-See-Um is a bloodsucker many times smaller than a mosquito, but with a bite inversely more painful." (Source: M.wisegeek.com) Well, I sure know what they feel like, even if I don't know what they look like. Come to think of it, I guess the French bugs take after the French politicians. Over here, the latter give handouts to the people, and then try to tax in invisible ways to cover the cost. I've given several examples of this here. I hope you will enjoy reading some of my observations about the French situation. Meanwhile, I'll go put on some bug spray. (Too bad they don't have an anti-tax spray.)