Introduction
Greetings, dear reader. Last weekend's events were certainly interesting. Do you want to know more? I thought so!
As the 135th entry in the Family topic section, I begin with my wife's sister's birthday party on Saturday. Shifting gears to the 121st entry in the Humor topic section, I share our fly-killing war that started after the party and continued until early this morning. Finally, moving to the 73rd article in the Poly-ticks section, I mention the USA's bombing of Iran that happened late last Saturday evening.
My Wife's Sister's Birthday on Saturday
Last Saturday morning, I awakened at the unusual time of 5 AM, instead of just after 6 AM. Wondering why I was awake an hour early, I knew that my wife's sister's 61st birthday was that day. Before falling back to sleep, I said to myself, “Sabrina must have just now gone to bed.” Retired, she goes to bed about the time that my wife, even on summer break, wakes up. My wife hits the hay about 9 PM.
The birthday celebration started at 2:30 PM last Saturday. Seven family members and three guests, a mother and her two sons, legal immigrants from Guatemala, were in attendance. The boys, about ages five and six, provided ample entertainment. The three household cats found hiding places.
After the delicious home-cooked meal, my sister-in-law blew out seven candles on her choice birthday chocolate and peanut butter pie while we sang happy birthday to her. Seven years old was a stretch of the imagination! My wife's sister is not seven. I wished her a happy 41st birthday. Well, she looks to be about 41 years young. That means that her 37-year-old daughter is about 18.
Now, before I get into trouble, my wife looks to be about a year older than her sister, whose birthday was last Saturday. I hope that last sentence keeps me out of the doghouse!
New Fly-Killing Record!
Our fly-killing war lasted two full days, from last Saturday through yesterday, Sunday. It ended early this morning. The following is a record of each day. On Saturday, I broke my longstanding single-day record of total flies killed!
Saturday, June 21
Twenty-one flies killed in one day had been my record. Until last Saturday, that record stood for about 43 years. I set the record when I was roughly 22 and my youngest brother was around nine. At the homeplace on a warm summer day, we were in a fly-killing competition. I killed 21 flies. Close behind me, my brother killed a total in the upper teens.
Leaving for my sister-in-law's birthday party last Saturday, I saw four or five flies in the kitchen windows. I decided to kill them once I was back home. Arriving home about 30 minutes before my wife, I killed 15 flies! When she got back, my wife killed one. Before night fell, I found and killed 15 more pesky flies! My new record, set on Saturday, June 21, 2025, my sister-in-law's birthday, was 30 flies killed in a single day! That shattered my old record of 21. The total number of flies killed last Saturday was 31.
Sunday, June 22
Sunday, the next day, the fly-killing war continued. It started early in the morning and lasted until sunset, with breaks for worship, phone calls, and such.
As an aside, a dear friend, Dorothy, Jay's wife, turned another year older on Sunday. I won't give out her age, but I do understand that you can “get your kicks at age 66,” with an apology to the legacy of jazz musician Robert William Troup Jr., who composed the Route 66 song in 1946.
Focusing back on the flies, from where these flies come and how they get in, I do not know. Each window is down, sealed, and locked tightly. We quickly open and close entry doors. Recently, I inspected every air vent. On Sunday afternoon, I reinspected the ones in the kitchen, dining room, and entry hall. These flies usually congregate around the kitchen windows. We, however, have found them near the windows in the living room and dining room.
On Sunday, the number of flies killed totaled 50. My “long-suffering” wife killed 22, and I sent 28 to the grave (i.e., the trash can below the kitchen sink). That was a two-day total of 81 flies killed. I missed tying my record, set the previous day, of 30 flies killed in a single day by two flies.
Today, Monday, June 23
Early this morning, about 5:30 AM, Mrs. Appalachian Irishman found and killed two more flies that were hanging out on the television screen. Once I awakened just after 6 AM, she informed me. Until the publication of this article today, we have kept our eyes out for more flies, but we haven't seen any. Our fly-killing war is officially declared to be over! The grand total of flies killed was 83, 25 by my wife and 58 by me.
Our weapon of choice, in the above image, was our Willert Home Products: Enoz Flyswatter (made in the Philippines). The image below shows our handwritten tally of kills by date.
My new one-day record of flies killed does not come close to the online records of fly-killing professionals! Check out the following about a record from 1912: “The Canadian girl who killed over 500,000 flies,” Things That Talk, From the thing, Fly Swatter (undated). It states that in 1912 Beatrice White, a teenager, was Toronto’s champion flyswatter. She swatted and killed over a half-million flies in a citywide contest to stop the spread of disease. Further, a record from 1934 is found at “The Sultan of Swat,” Virginia Living, by Bland Crowder, 722/2009. It states, “Young E.T. Collier didn’t make Guinness [World Records], but he did make the papers in June 1934 when the Virginia Department of Health highlighted his impressive fly-swatting record in a news release designed to warn people about the hazards looming with summer housefly season.” Finally, I found, “There are no flies on her! Chinese pensioner who has spent eight hours a day, seven days a week for the past 14 years swatting bugs... and kills up to 1,000 a day.” Daily Mail, by Lizzie Edmonds, 4/27/2014. It tells about an 80-year-old Chinese woman who swatted and killed flies every day for 14 years.
My new one-day fly-killing record is 30. Can you imagine killing a thousand flies in a day?
As a political aside, a nation, to be a nation, must have secure borders. Otherwise, it is not a nation. Our house is secured against the elements and critters, both crawling and flying. We put down the recent fly invasion. Our house is secured again. Do you understand the political analogy?
The USA Bombed Iran Last Saturday Evening
It was Saturday evening, our time (EDST). In Tehran, Iran, it was after midnight on Sunday. The time zone difference is 7.5 hours. After last Saturday's birthday celebration for my sister-in-law and the fly killings, my worn-out wife sacked out at about 9 PM.
While channel surfing about thirty minutes later, I was surprised to find that President Trump had ordered an airstrike on targets in Iran. I listened to his brief televised statement at 10 PM. One of several sources is “US inserts itself into Israel’s war with Iran, striking 3 Iranian nuclear sites.” The Associated Press (AP), by Sam Mednick, Aamer Madhani, and David Rising, 6/22/2025.
The conclusion to my article last Friday includes the following:
The root to current national disunity and global conflicts is found in the great dragon, Satan. Nationally and globally, if everyone would turn to the Lord and follow the biblical worldview, the great dragon could no longer lead the world astray as he does now.
Then, I had no way of knowing what would happen the next evening. I have heard that a majority of the Iranian people disavow their national leadership. My sympathy extends to those people. I pray for peace between Israel and Iran, for peace in the Middle East, and for worldwide peace through the Prince of Peace.
Conclusion
Last Saturday, was it happenstance that my sister-in-law's birthday coincided with the beginning of our fly-killing war and the USA's bombing of Iran? I reckon so. It will be a birthday to remember.
Last weekend's events were indeed interesting. Thanks, dear reader, for dropping by to read about them.
By the way, as of the publication time today, we have not seen any more flies, except the two that my wife killed early this morning! Well, one fly did get in through the door to the garage when one of us opened it. That, however, counted as a routine fly killing, not part of the fly-killing war that ended early this morning.
