20 November 2008

Moth Pressure

We stayed with my parents over the weekend. This was lovely, apart from the fact that when my Dad snores, it sounds like a grizzly bear drowning in a bucket of porridge.*

But you know, no matter how much you love them, parents have their quirks. And they can be weird.

Now, I don't particularly care if I get insects in my house. If it's easier for me to leave the screen door open when I go through it while balancing a small child in one arm and an enormous bin of recycling in the other, then I just leave it open.

If I find a fly in my house later in the day, I just wave at it with my hand. My parents, if they're visiting, chase it relentlessly with the swat until that creature is dead and disposed of.

Me? Not-so-much.

So this weekend when I was staying at my parents' place, I was highly amused to see my father's dislike of insects in action.

"When you've finished brushing your teeth, just -uh- turn the light off."

I nodded.

"It's just that the light attracts moths."

I wondered why this was a problem, given that all the windows and doors have screens on them.

"See - right now, we've got all this Moth Pressure."

Moth Pressure? I looked to where he was pointing. Sure enough, there were eight to ten moths on the outside of the window and screen. I'm sure that if they could have come in, they would have. But they hadn't. They were just sitting on the outside of the window, minding their own business.

Exerting a certain level of "Moth Pressure."

Sheesh. Gotta love my Dad.



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* I thought that was a quote I'd heard somewhere before. I can't find it anywhere. The closest I found was this great quote that was featured on Blogtations: "Imagine what a chainsaw trapped in a bucket of mucus sounds like. Yea. Got it? Now try sleeping next to that."

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Postscript: I'm in the mood to do Google Image Searches on odd phrases. So here goes: "Moth Pressure." Mister Google didn't disappoint.

Exhibit A, on an
Art website: an artist using Corel Painter to develop this piece, called "pressure moth":




And Exhibit B, a recipe on a blog, with a picture of something called "pressure-cooked moth dal":



Thankyou Mister Google.

12 comments:

Adlibby said...

love those descriptions of snoring! My darling hubby used to sound like a horrendous blend of both. Now, thanks to a sexy cpap that he wears to bed, he's a quiet sexy astronaut.

Swift Jan said...

We get plenty of moth pressure here!! LOL What a crack up! I'm with you on the screen door thing!! lol

Adelaine said...

Oh my, that is exactly what my Dad sounds like - except every once in a while, it sounds like he has actually drowned in the mucos for about 10-15 seconds and then he breaks through with a big inhaling snort....lovely. He needs a cpap himself.

yeah, moth pressure doesn't get to me. And if one gets in, they are just cheap entertainment for my cats...

Hippomanic Jen said...

Hate flies and mosquitos. I could cope with moths.

Have you ever noticed the 'fly pressure' on the kitchen screens when you're cooking a roast?

Jen said...

now that is interesting. Learn something new every day. Thank you.

Paige said...

My mom is the same way, but with flies. She will wreck the car trying to kill one--

drives me crazy, she is far more annoying than the fly ever could be

GreenJello said...

I let certain spiders live in my entryway and around the house-- the ones that love to eat gnats and mosquitoes, but don't make webs. Jumping spiders or wolf spiders, usually...

Your dad would have a freak-out at my house.

I take it he's not much of an outdoorsman? :)

stefanie said...

That makes me laugh, and yet I know that in not-so-many years I will be concerned about such things as moth pressure...

Heather said...

Yes, but what images come up for "grizzly bear drowning in a bucket of porridge" then, eh? Don't tell me you didn't google THAT one!

Hee!

I shan't poke fun at your dad's snoring, though, as I've been known to let loose a few Zzzzzs that are loud enough to send Hubby to the guest room when I've got any head congestion.

Allegro ma non troppo said...

They do flip out from open screens, hey! Do you think enough moths exerting enough pressure could pop a screen in?

The fear of THAT would have ME turning the light off.

Dee said...

love the "moth pressure".... I can just see the moths calling out to each other "comon guys, pile on"

Nauntie Lush said...

Oh, dear! Dads you have to love the things that they work up in their old tired brains to worry about.

And moth dal....gives me the shivers.