Last year my girlfriend Jennifer and I road-tripped to my old monastery, Yokoji Zen Mountain Center. When I lived there in 2003 I used to hike up from ZMC to the Pacific Crest Trail every weekend, so for nostalgia's sake I conscripted Jennifer to do it with me. Flies maddened us every step from ZMC's valley to the crest. They maddened us once we reached it and tried to have a picnic. We despaired and turned back. Flies maddened us for the duration of the descent, and a pair of them got in the car with us and maddened us until we reached the highway. I managed to brush the flies off my lens long enough to snap a couple pictures.