Black Flies in July

Ever since I got home a week ago, I have wanted to take pictures of the lavender flowers growing beside the road. An hour before sunset is the perfect time to take pictures outside, so last night hubby drove me to the spot I directed, but they had "ditched" the sides of the road, according to him. This meant digging up the purple flowers in order for the rain to run off better. I don't fully understand this concept but in order to get my picture, I had to climb the hill they made and take photos of the ones left in the field. I kept slipping on the straw they'd thrown down and couldn't climb the hill. Hubby, still in the car, motioned to me to move farther down the road where the hill was less steep. 

By this time, I was being swarmed by Maine black flies. In a normal summer, black flies are gone by mid July. This year they seemed to have increased, possibly due to the rainy June.

I snapped a few shots reluctantly, realizing that these weren't the same flowers I had been looking for. 

The sun was nearly setting behind me, so I crossed the road to take a few pics of the potato field and the sunset. Hubby stayed in the car with the windows up! It was that bad. The flies were swarming the car as well.

Here's the first field- my letdown pic.

I would like to figure out how to watermark my favorite photo before I post it. Check out Wings Open for one of the sunset photos.

More tomorrow from Black Fly capitol of the U.S. I'm not sure of that fact. If you are from somewhere other than northern Maine and have these annoying pests, leave a comment.

P.S. I really didn't get many bites, when all was said and done. It was worth it.