Old houses in Japan come with lots of surprises. Bugs are one of them. Yes, I have written about them before and I have also stated that during winter time, they are not that big an issue as the house is too cold without heating. Of course, just because they are not active right now does not mean you cannot find the traces of their nefarious summer activities…
The other day I had a meeting and I wanted to dress nice for it. As most of my nice clothing is still in boxes in Europe, I have only little choice, especially in winter. However, there is this very nice bright red turtleneck sweater I bought last year when I was in Austria, and I decided to wear it.
I am glad I took a few extra minutes to check my attire in the mirror. I am also glad that it was in plain view, for had the hole been on the back of the sweater, I might not have seen it and had probably gone out with it… Yes, the sweater had a hole, about two centimetres in diameter. As I said, it was a brand new sweater, I only wore it once or twice last year, but, some of those bugs I referred to in the beginning obviously had a field day with my woolen stuff and this is the result. Later, I checked all my clothes (luckily I don’t have that many at the moment) and all the nice woolen sweaters and jumpers I bought only last year have holes, mostly small ones, but still large enough to be visible.
I am furious, honestly. That is not supposed to happen! My landlady blames it on the old house of course, and she is probably right, but still. No matter where in Asia I had lived before and how old the furniture was where I stored my clothing, nothing like this has happened before. Well, I have wizened up: As soon as possible (meaning: after my move) I will buy airtight plastic containers in which to store my nice clothes during summer. And I vow to gas all those moths with plenty of lavender sachets and cedar chips and possibly even moth balls. And woe the ones I meet in person…