There we were, lost on a Michigan back road, trying to find another secret beach, a beach party about to start. At a four-way stop, surrounded by woods. Twilight, no road signs, no buildings, before iPhones.
My new…..wife and I. It was so how hard to say “wife” back then. Girlfriend was easy to say. So was fiancée. Wife was hard. Seemed so permanent. So final. Good thing it was… my new wife, first wife, only wife.
Back to the story.
There we were, at the crossroads. Lost. Well, not lost, since I knew how to backtrack and get back to civilization. But lost in having no idea where to find the unmarked road we had missed. And dusk settling in. And my Dodge Colt deciding it was time for the temperature gauge to shoot to hot. We climbed out of the car. I popped the hood. Everything seemed fine… and then I looked up. Swarms of bugs coming out of the woods, separate streams joining and diving towards us. Mosquitos! Horror movie like swarms coming right at us.
I dropped the hood and we jumped back in the car and flew back home to our apartment. Beach forgotten for the night.
Never saw anything like it before, or after. We must have been very near some stagnant water. On the beach, or in the dunes, mosquitos had never been an issue. Lake breezes and sandy soil help.
But that day….