A Noise in the Night

Texas has a lot of pests. Mosquitos are one of my least favorite.

One night, shortly after we had turned out the lights to go to sleep, both Steve and I heard the telltale whining noise of a mosquito buzzing around our heads. Steve said, "It's a mosquito! Quick, turn on the light!" I did, and he successfully killed it. I was so relieved. I don't think I could have easily fell asleep waiting for that bug to feed on my blood and leave a whelp.

Sometimes, Steve wakes up in the middle of the night for an hour or two. He gets up and watches TV in the living room. He did this a few weeks ago, and as he was lying on the couch, he heard a loud whining, buzzing noise. It was louder than the one we had heard before. This thing must be massive! He turned off the volume on the TV in order to locate the bugger.

Last month, we celebrated my cat Sabrina's 13th birthday. For her special day each year, she gets wet cat food and a catnip toy. This year, I also splurged on an electronic litter box. Fifteen minutes after the cat leaves the box, a metalic rake combs the litter and moves any waste into a receptacle. It also rakes once every three hours.

As you've probably figured out, the noise Steve heard that night, his "massive mosquito," was Sabrina's new litter box!