In case you don’t know, La Crosse, Wisconsin, where I currently hang my hat, is right on the Mississippi River. This has some advantages and disadvantages, but usually nothing worth noticing.
A couple weeks I started getting emails from our facilities manager, who usually just emails us to remind us not to park like jerks, started sending emails regarding the ‘annual mayfly hatch’ and what we need to do to minimize the impact on the building and ourselves. I asked around, never experiencing one of these, and realized La Crosse was going to be pretty gross for a few days. HUGE SWARMS hover over the river and all throughout the river valley…. until they breed and die, covering the ground with their dead bodies. The locals talk about falling and slipping on pavement the dead bugs can get so thick some years.
I wasn’t exactly looking forward to ‘Bug Gut Fest 2009′ but you know me, I’ll just deal with it for a few days.
This morning, I noticed two things: Another email from the facilities manager warning us the hatch was ‘real soon now’ because it’s pretty predictable cycle these bugs live on. The other thing I noticed was workers setting up tents in Riverfront Park, next door to my job.
Further investigation led me to discover that this Wednesday through Saturday the park will be home to ‘Riverfest’ a supposed celebration of the river, independence day, and La Crosse, but like so much here in La Crosse, another excuse to drink, heavily.
Next to the Mississippi River. Where hordes of Mayflies are about to erupt from.
You know how Australia was settled by criminals? I’m beginning to think that La Crosse was settled by the slow kids.
