I think my mom swears. I’m not really sure what that means, but the words she was uttering this morning seemed to match the ones I’ve heard from some of the people in the movies that Dad watches. Mom did the same thing last week. Both times she had been outside cutting grass. She came rushing in and pulled off her shoes and socks while saying those words plus “fire ants!” Today she also pulled off her jeans and then was pulling little black bugs off her legs. She took her shoes and socks into the hall bathroom where I watched as she shook them out in the sink before running lots of hot water. Again she was saying those words plus “fire ants!” I don’t think she likes the fire ants. Next she was rubbing toothpaste on parts of her legs. She did that last week as well, but later showed me the nasty red bumps on the back of one of her ankles. She had only rubbed toothpaste on the front. She was still saying those words plus “fire ant bites.” I’m not sure what toothpaste has to do with fire ants, but I’m happy if it makes her happy. She didn’t go back out to finish cutting the grass. Once she had dressed, it had started to rain. At least she didn’t swear at the rain.