While the weather here is nice, no mom would want a nice cook-out by the Lake Winnebago on Mother's Day. Here is the reason: Lake flies. They hatch like clockwork around Mother's Day. They swarm and get all over everything for about a week, then they are gone.
They don't bite, sting, spread disease or eat crops. They just land on everything, stink and stain when squished and make make a buzzing noise. They come out of the lake, mate and die. A good storm will get rid of them. And the cats like them, so none stay around in the house for long!
The fish love the larvae, and for a while we thought the zebra mussels might have done the lake flies in. Zebra mussels are an invasive species here. But after two or three years of no lake flies, it was back to normal.
Here is a story about who lake flies came to Lake Winnebago. Apparently, lake flies thrived in a lake or two in Africa. Some professor at a university in Chicago thought, "I wonder if they would also thrive in Lake Winnebago." He brought them here and they did, indeed, thrive. If it's true, it's just another reason for the rivalry between Wisconsinites and folks from Illinois , especially those from Chicago. 
So, instead of gardening, I can only plan what I'll plant when these nasty bugs are gone. Luckily for me, I mowed the lawn the day before the hatch!
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