Lord of the Flies

 Ok, do you remember reading Lord of the Flies in junior high school?  I do.  I have distinct memories about specific chapters in that book that still haunt me to this day.

I have my own personal version of Lord of the Flies that has nothing to do with the book, but everything to do with my upbringing.  

My parents were born and raised in rural Minnesota farms located in the west central portion of the state.  My maternal grandparents had cows, hay, soybeans, corn, etc.  My paternal grandparents had pigs, corn, barley, flax, etc.  

Where am I going with this?

Place yourself here.  It's 1976 and you're a kid in rural western Minnesota on your grandparents' farm.  Some of the relatives still do not have indoor plumbing and the out-house is a real thing.  Some of them still don't have electricity nor a telephone.  Here's my terror.

FLIES ARE EVERYWHERE

There are flies in the outhouse.  There are flies in my grandma's kitchen.  There are flies in the barn.  The flies are EVERYWHERE.  Then, there are the dreaded HORSE FLIES that BITE.  Oh yeah, that's how we knew it was going to rain.....if the flies were biting, rain is in the forecast. 

 To see a fly land on food makes me want to barf.  Sorry, grandma, I said it.  The proliferation of flies on the farm has had an impact on me my whole life.

To this day I have a phobia about flies.  I hate them.  I won't even go into mosquitos and wood ticks.