Flea Infestation

Well, the cats are out of our hair now, being outdoor pets for the better part of the last month, but a new, perhaps even more vicious problem has taken their place. Fleas. Chances are they came in on the backs of the cats, mated, laid eggs, and now the eggs are hatching. Everywhere. I noticed the first one on Saturday as I sat on the couch. I felt a tickle then looked down at my arm where a small, dark spot sat. I went to brush it away and it sprung nimbly from its feasting spot. It had been a while since I'd seen a flea. Yesterday morning I was standing by the kitchen and felt the same crawling sensation on my ankles. There, swarming all over my socks like fruit flies, were fleas. I began to panic, realizing that the problem was quickly multiplying, and commenced vacuuming every surface, then left a message for an exterminator to give me a quote for services. All day long while I was at work I dreaded returning home, fearing that our home would be engulfed in a brownish haze of flickering fleas. Rob set to work researching natural remedies for home flea removal and called me while I was shopping for juice ingredients at Whole Foods to instruct me to pick up a hefty quantity of Borax. I got the stuff, dropped it off at home, then skipped out to give a first piano lesson to a three year-old girl in our neighborhood, then to a family meeting at the Khoreys'. When I got home I saw that Rob had gone into battle with the fleas: Borax was sprinkled over most everything in the living room. We can really only do one room at a time, which isn't necessarily the best way to attack these varmints; they'll simply relocate. This evening we'll probably do our room, then tomorrow Buggy's room. All the time I'm feeling phantom fleas, though it's hard to discern a phantom from the real thing since both are so fleeting. Their bites really don't bother me all that much; it's the idea of them that makes me shudder. I could hardly shake the feeling of having them bouncing all over my legs as I fell asleep last night.

One more reason the cats are never, ever coming inside again.