The Great Texas Mosquito Festival In Clute

This morning I mentioned that I had suffered my first mosquito bite since being exiled in Texas.

Miss GG then commented regarding me getting bit, saying, "I know you don't like to hear this, but it's just more proof you're a Texan. Also, you said 'skeeter' the other day. Maybe that's WA speak, but I doubt it."

Actually skeeter is WA speak for mosquito. It must be a universal nickname.

Mosquito seems to be the theme of the day, today.

This morning I got an invite to The Great Texas Mosquito Festival. This festival takes place in the Brazosport Area, in the town of Clute, down in the Texas Gulf Coast Region.

The Great Texas Mosquito Festival has taken place annually for 3 decades on the last Thursday, Friday and Saturday of July. Which makes this year's Great Texas Mosquito Festival happening on July 28, 29 and 30 at Clute's Municipal Park.

The Great Texas Mosquito Festival has a carnival, games, contests, races, tours and Live Entertainment Nightly on stage. For the athletically inclined, there is a “Mosquito Chase” 5K Run and 600 meter Kids run on Saturday. Also on Saturday there are tournaments featuring double horseshoe pitching and double washer pitching. If you can cook then you must enter the BBQ Cookoff and Grill Master Competition. For the more mature (60+) there is BINGO and for the little ones, there are haystack dives, Skeeter Beaters Baby Crawling, O’You Beautiful Doll, Petting Zoo, Kid’s Fishing, Monster Water Balls, Carnival, and more. There are food and arts and craft vendors. Then for some extra fun enter the Mosquito Calling or Mosquito Legs Contest.

The Great Texas Mosquito Festival website has an informative press release with an imaginative tale of how a mosquito named Willie Man-Chew began The Great Texas Mosquito Festival.

From his vantage point high atop a moss-hung oak, Willie Man-Chew rested from his long search for a perfect home and surveyed the scene below. Here, in the early summer of 1981, the sight and sounds that greeted him were a delight to his senses. There were healthy, tanned humans playing ball, swimming in an Olympic-sized swimming pool, enjoying state of-the-art playground equipment, laughing and having fun. Willie’s discerning eye noted the lush greenery surrounding the homes and schools in the neighborhood. Springing, as he does from the finest bloodlines in southern Brazoria County, he realized that he had, at last, found the land of his dreams.

Willie quickly marshaled a group of humans as his official goodwill ambassadors and began preparations for the first of the annual festivals that honor him and his fellow mosquitoes the last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of July each year. These ambassadors, whom Willie affectionately and jokingly calls his “Swat Team” present three fun filled days of special events, games, food, carnival rides, and contests, craft booths, cookoffs and much, much more.  Ya’ll come down to Clute, Texas and join us just for the fun of it!

I guess The Great Texas Mosquito Festival sort of sounds fun. I don't know if it sounds fun enough to drive all the way to a location 55 mile southeast of Houston.

101 Texas Degrees While Visiting Fosdic Lake, Port Aransas, Harlingen, Corpus Christi, South Padre Island & The Brazosport Area

As you can see, on this the last day of July, we have hit the predicted temperature of 101. The HEAT has melted the humidity out of the air, so there is no Heat Index saying the temperature feels hotter than it is.

I had intended to get outside and make my way to the Tandy Hills around 3. But, there was little breezing going on, and the sun had already heated it up out there to 100, so I decided to go to my favorite reading spot at Oakland Lake Park and read for awhile, while glancing up at Fosdic Lake.

It seems every Saturday there is something happening at the Oakland Lake Pavilion. Today it was some sort of party, part of which involved smacking a pinata hanging from a tree.

A surprising number of Texans were out in the HEAT aerobicizing. But, not wimpy me. I was under shade enjoying reading. I'd tell you what book I'm reading, but it's sort of embarrassing, so I won't.

I was in need of a peaceful break because the morning had been spent virtually visiting the Texas Gulf Coast. I went to Port Aransas, but did not see the Songbird of the Gulf Coast, Alma Squillante.

The furthest south I made it was to Harlingen. Cool town with a lot of palm trees and parrots. I also like Corpus Christi. I need to move back near saltwater.

I enjoyed South Padre Island. I can see why this is where Elsie Hotpepper heads whenever she gets a hankering to find a new husband.

And then, heading back north, almost to Galveston, I visited the Brazosport Area, where good fishing and beaches can be found, but I caught none and did no swimming.

I did have a really good swim really early this morning though. And likely will have another one tomorrow morning on the first day of August.