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Snap this season This seasonıs magpies seem even bolder than last yearıs, rainbow lorikeets even more rainbow; new canna lilies more like delicately painted porcelain than ever. This seasonıs flies seem worse than last yearıs not the ones that sneak indoors to buzz and swoop and get sprayed down no, the open-air ones from farmland and bush in late November, seeking animal moisture, the sweat on your arms and face, spittle in your mouth spit! lest you swallow! Theyıre settling en masse on your back, hitching a ride round the park. They fancy small kidsı undefended faces. I asked Robin next door (retired test cricket umpire) how he coped. Aerosol repellent? Nah, one bad bush-fly year at the Sydney Test, he used so much, it made his face peel away like snake-skin. Never again, thanks. Better to swat them off, with a chance of killing one. Our suburbıs Asian residents are walking the park (sensible but sinister inscrutable! ) in black gauze masks. 11am Wednesday 5 December 2007 Max Richards Doncaster, Victoria