The Problem with Wasps...

Needless to say, with everything going on, my car has sat idle more often than not.

A couple days ago I took my car through the car wash.  No biggie.  Nothing dramatic.  Though, as I pulled my car into its typical spot back home, a couple wasps started dancing around the passenger side mirror.  One climbed inside.  The other wasp seemed confused, perhaps mistaking its reflection with another wasp as it hovered next to the mirror.

Now, mind, I'm terrified of wasps and bees.  Snakes are okay, as long as they're not poisonous.   Spiders are okay, too, sans poison as well.  But wasps?  Big nope.

I decided to try an experiment.  Wiggling the mirror did nothing.  The wasp inside the mirror didn't come out and the other wasp still flying in place didn't move.  At this point I decided to drive to the end of the street, hoping the wasps would leave.  As I made a three point turn back at the house a wasp did the most startling thing:  I watched in slow motion as it flew across the street towards my windshield, charging and then flying up as if in attack mode.

After parking two more wasps started hovering around the mirror.  One flew in again, peaking his head above the mirror while wiggling his antennae, waiting for his friend to enter.  At this point I made my escape.  Last night I peaked inside the mirror and saw a small nest, but no wasps, but it's still freaking me out quite a bit.

In all honestly I don't know if I'm allergic to those things.  Never been stung.  Back in high school my Mom and I were driving home from Paso Robles to Porterville after visiting my great-grandparents.  We were in the middle of no where, orange and cow farms scattered about here and there.  The sun roof was open and somehow a wasp or bee flew inside the car, immediately stinging my Mom on her ear.  It swelled!  My brother Michael got stung once and swelled pretty bad.  Allergies are genetic, right? 

When I was 15 my Mom and I were traveling to Ventura/Santa Barbara to visit my Grandpa.  He had a sailboat in the SB marina and we were going to spend the weekend living on it, which was a rare treat, so we were excited.  We had just left Porterville, just 10 or so minutes out of town, when a wasp flew into the car.  I freaked out!!  While trying to get it away from my head I accidentally flicked my glasses out the window!!  We pulled over, back tracked, but couldn't find them.  It was two weeks before I got another pair, spending that weekend in Santa Barbara blind, and when back in school I had to walk up to the dry erase board, only a foot away, so I was close enough to see and take notes.

I know wasps are important to our ecology, or whatever, but that doesn't mean I have to like them. :P