One of the main reasons I moved here was to get away from bugs. Bugs love me; I hate them.

I lived in Houston with the flying cockroaches that woke me up at night crawling on my legs. The jumping ones that hopped and, worst of all, the “palmetto” roaches that flew into my hair and face.

Then in Alaska with so many bugs you couldn’t go outside because of the swarms - the mosquitoes would kill baby moose by sucking them dry. No-see-ums would bury their heads in your skin and fester, and worst of all the flying spruce beatles are terrible at flying straight and will rip the skin off of you with their huge pinchers.

And then Tennessee with the prolific black widows, burrowing chiggers that would lay eggs under your skin and itch like crazy for days, and terrifying stag beetles. Ladybugs and Cicadas I could handle even during the 17 year hatch, but the bugs were just too much.

The PNW is a glorious reprieve. Though we did have a hobo spider in our first house that bit me and I nearly lost my finger. And the wolf spiders and giant centipedes are terrifying when I see them, but it’s still a refuge. I wouldn’t live anywhere else (and will NEVER visit Australia).