A dear friend knew I was having a very hard time turning 60.  It seemed more an ending than a beginning. My friend’s birthday gift to me was an out of print book called “Take Big Bites” by Linda Ellerbee.  The author wrote about her travels around the world,  foods she ate along the way and celebrating her 60th with a walk from one end of the Thames to the other.  This trip is my way of doing the same thing: taking Big Bites.

How was I to know I wouldn’t be the only one taking Big Bites?

A quick look at the map showed me that we’d be crossing the Continental Divide.  I remembered it from elementary school.  It seemed momentous and a feat which called for a celebratory photograph.  We parked a short distance from the sign and John set up his camera tripod for a “group” photo.  And that’s when it happened….Mosquitoes by the thousands.  Clouds of mosquitoes. Clouds of very BIG mosquitoes.   Clouds of very big, HUNGRY mosquitoes.  We were surrounded. And they took VERY big bites!  Mosquitoes should be the State Bird of Wyoming.

We swatted.  We smacked. The group photo will show me with my hand in front of my face trying to chase them away from my face.  It’s a memory I won’t soon forget. We jumped in the car as quickly as we could and the mosquitoes followed. By the hundreds.  Did I mention they were IN the car? Every time we tried to shoo one out a window, 10 more came in. There are now as many dead bugs INSIDE the car as there are out.

We are covered in bites.  Big red, angry welts. At least, for awhile, those welts will serve as visible reminders to “Take Big Bites”.  If the mosquitoes can do it, so can I.