Anyone that has lived through one of summers certainly knows what a gnat is.

They can tell you what they taste like, what they feel like crawling around in your nose or ears. For something so little they can be a bother even to the strongest and toughest person. My granddaughter, Kaylee, hates them so much that she will come stumping indoors from playing outside just because they land on her arms and legs. That is at 2 years old.

This past week I have had several folks ask what I use to keep the gnats away from me. Nothing will totally keep them away if they are determined to land and ruin your day, but they are a number of things you can do to keep them at bay.

On Kaylee we use BugBand towelettes. These are deet free and safe for kids and folks with sensitive skin. We take the towelette and rub it lightly across her forehead, down her cheeks and across her ears. With that her head is well protected. We also put it on her arms and legs, but getting in and out of the pool soon washes the arm and leg application away and she gets mad and makes for the indoors. About the only way to deter the inside run is have her see watermelon on the way inside. She will fight a gnat for watermelon.

The stuff that works on the towelette is called Geraniol. On the BugBand products it is a lotion. Their pump spray repellent is in lotion form and applies easily and stays on the applied area better and longer than other products I have used, especially on children and young folks. With just my wife and myself we have not worried too much about insect repellent and used the strong stuff like the 100 percent deet. Any insect that can get through 100 percent deet is a bad son of a gun and you had just as soon leave him alone and go back inside. With these little girls we had to find something that worked for them and was as safe as possible. These BugBand towelettes have done us a good job and may be something you want to try.

On my travels I carry my laptop and can get on line several different ways. It is wireless and most motels have wireless Internet so I can check up on stuff while I am away from Bainbridge. Being as old as I am I look on the funeral home Web sites to see if anyone I know has passed while I am away.

Last week I saw where Jerry Landrum had died. I am sure that a lot of you knew him. I got to know Jerry almost 30 years ago when he and I did a radio show at 6 p.m. each weekday. He would call me from the radio station and we would talk about pertinent stuff in the fishing world. In our part of the world, there would be something to talk about everyday in fishing. I enjoyed doing the show and I think he did also. Even today I feel he is looking down on the lake and wishing we could go fishing, or at least I do. Where he is he is catching 10-pounders every cast.

During the last couple of weeks there has been a goodly number of our local folks that have gone on. The time of the year or maybe the heat or any number of reasons. Some were ready to go. A continuation of the journey and seeing folks not seen in a long time.

Dog days will last until about Labor Day, but that doesn’t mean that the gnats or the heat will be gone. Maybe a change will be in the making, but summer lasts most of the month of September. I know that the fall season will be here when my wife says something about the cool weather. She is very hot natured and it really has to be cool for her to appreciate it. I am just about ready to appreciate some cool weather also. The first morning that we show a temperature under freezing I may just turn on the heat, or I may not. With my hot natured wife our power bill is not very high in the winter.