Gratitude

I found myself once again facing defeat, seeking refuge behind the protection of my glass patio door. Summer evenings generally started out pleasantly on my porch, glistened with a beautiful sunset, followed by declining temperatures which provided respite from the heat. Disaster would invariably strike, however, with the inevitable onslaught of mosquitoes. The mosquitoes were unimpressed by my insistence on remaining environmentally conscious and disavowing products containing DEET. Pinpricks of swelling bumps peppered the lengths of my arms and legs, leaving me itchy, irritated, and defeated. Nevertheless, I was undaunted, and armed with science, I steeled myself for devastating counterattacks.

The one thing that could keep me inside on a nice summer’s day is the threat of mosquitoes. Where they bite me, I swell up and itch for days afterwards. It’s a hard choice between slathering myself in nasty smelling insect repellant or staying inside. Sometimes even with the insect repellant I still get bit. To add insult to injury, they sometimes get in the house and attack me. They seem to be an annoyance I can’t escape. I’m lucky that the mosquitoes that bite me don’t carry dangerous diseases like the ones in other counties. Daniel Engber who wrote the article “Let’s Kill All the Mosquitoes” has the solution to our problem. He makes a great argument to kill the dangerous mosquitoes and it’s very well supported with credible sources.

Throughout “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude” by Ross Gay, Gay shows how nature controls emotional responses, forces and other higher or more powerful things. Furthermore, nature brings about unnatural aspects causing greater control of forces in nature, and outside of the natural realm. Many cycles revolve around nature, producing a circle, or cycle, of life that changes depending on different things. Even more, nature can interact with man-made things in ways that disrupt it. Gay portrays nature as a commanding force, something that’s located everywhere. Also, it shows how the nature forces have consequential reactions, resulting in everything being controlled by nature. Ultimately, this shows how Gay portrays nature as a controlling

In the article” When mosquitoes were killers in America” by Lauren Tarshis, there is evidence that discussed how mosquitoes were far more than a nuisance. The article talked about the symptoms of having malaria. Tarshis said,”Those who become sick get high fevers, bone - rattling chills, and painful muscle aches.” It must have been very painful for people in the olden days who had malaria. The current generation is very lucky because there are medicines that reduce pain. Malaria is a deadly disease caused by mosquitoes sucking blood and transferring the blood to another human's body. Tarshis talked about how many people die in a year due to mosquitoes. The article says” In this way, bite by itchy bite, 212 million people are infected with malaria

We're talking about kids placed In harm's way everyday because of when you schedule your practice”(p.59). Even if football practice gets rescheduled, lightning can strike at any time of day, which makes it never safe to be outside. In Tangerine County, muck fires are a common disaster that people complain about, but seem to not have a way to get rid of it. ”We rented pumps and spraying equipment and started saturating the area last month. To make a long story short, the muck fire still burning, and now we have swarms of mosquitoes breeding in the swamp that we created out there” (p.157).

Mosquitos is a problem faced by the world it appears many times in the novel Tangerine by Edward Bloor,” “(Bloor)When Paul's mother Caroline complains to the HOA that the muck fire in the yard is going out of hand and should be dealt with asap. The HOA decides to try different ways to get rid of it each attempt worse than the last from putting it out with a fire extinguisher to flooding the fire with water. When the hoa decides to flood the Fisher’s backyard muck fire they didn’t take in account that they not only failed to resolve the conflict of the fire but added another job to their list. The HOA unintentionally invited the dreaded mosquitos to Lake Windsor Downs when they flooded the fire. The mosquitoes are blood thirsty creatures they will bite anyone and anything to get their food, blood.

Man can capture an elephant, train a lion, and totally obliterate a species from this earth. If man can do all that surely he will have dominion over something as small and meek as a mosquito. The Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793 proved this notion to be false as this disease, transmitted solely by the bite of a female mosquito, wiped out one tenth of Philadelphia’s population in four months. Some make the mistake of seeing this as an isolated event but this epidemic was as far-reaching as the disease itself since it forever changed America’s Government, public health system and African American community.

The new mosquitos contain a gene that produces high levels of a protein that stops their cells from functioning normally, ultimately killing them.” And “While similar releases in Florida are years away, some locals have already reacted forcefully. One activist gathered 100,000 signatures on a petition to oppose using the mosquitoes in eradication efforts.” But their concerns are ““What if these mosquitoes bite my boys or my dogs? What will they do to the ecosystem?”

Department of Health. (2009, April). Information Sheet: Malathion and Mosquito Control. Retrieved July 11, 2011, from New York State department of health: http://www.health.state.ny.us/publications/2740/

Pest Control Frisco Tx wants to help protect you and your family from the potential health problems associated with mosquitoes. There are several dangerous virus strains that are spread through mosquitoes including West Nile and Zika. You can reduce the chances of your family becoming sick from West Nile or Zika by protecting them from mosquito bites. These tips will give you the information you need to protect your family from mosquito bites while they are outdoors.

Throughout “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude” by Ross Gay, Gay shows how nature controls emotional responses, forces and other higher or more powerful things. Furthermore, nature brings about unnatural aspects causing greater control of forces in nature, and outside of the natural realm. Many cycles revolve around nature producing a circle, or cycle, of life that changes depending on different things. Even more, nature can interact with man-made things in ways that disrupt it. Gay portrays nature as a commanding force, something that’s located everywhere. Also, it shows how the nature forces have consequential reactions, resulting in everything being controlled by nature. Ultimately, this shows how Gay portrays nature as a controlling

Mortality rates for bees in unsprayed and sprayed areas remained the same. As a result, researchers concluded that mosquito control measures had a very minimal effect on pollinators.

I have chosen the GQ-6 Gratitude Survey to measure the natural likelihood to experience gratitude. Gratitude has links with spirituality and grateful people tend to be more spiritually inclined (McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002). As a spiritual individual and a practicing Christian with a true belief in God, I aim to cultivate gratitude to improve the symptoms of my depression and strengthen my faith. Constructed by McCullough, et. al., (2002) to investigate the grateful disposition and assess gratitude among 238 undergraduate psychology students: the GQ-6 has an internal consistency reliability with alphas between .82 and .87 and evidence of relating positively to optimism, life satisfaction, hope, spirituality and religiousness, forgiveness,

There are many things to be thankful for. Whether it’s the moments that bring great significance or the seconds just passing by like the wind. There are also many things that we take for granted; each little step we take to the near future. It’s as if we’re programmed to only care for things that take a huge part in life, but the little occasions also matter.

For example having food and water to meet our basic needs. Waking up each morning to greet another day and spend quality time with friends and family. If every one of us looked at life the way Chief Seattle did we would miss our own entire blessing by reflecting only on our bad fortune? After a long day of going to work, followed by attending class, all I want to do is complain about how heavy the load is. However, when I walk into my house and my puppy greets me at the door I forget all the struggles and feel blessed to have a home to go to with a loving dog.