Nat's Creek, where I grew up, has a plethora of gnats. Enough so the name of the place is sometimes confused. The Creek itself was named by Daniel Boone for one of his fellow "long hunters" named Nathaniel Auxier. Auxier, Ky is also named for him.
But Nat's Creek is where I grew up and where I developed many of my habits. Some good and some not so very good. But, one constant in either version of the place's name was the gnats. When the sun went down you got introduced to them really well. Bites all over your body and flying in your eyes. This was every summer day and not just a few days.
The main way we had to escape the gnat's attention was a 'gnat smoke'. My grandparents would sit out on the porch with one going. One in the swing and one in the rocking chair. Both on the front porch of my grandparent's house.
A quick comment on "Nat Smokes". Those were made from scraps of cloth left over from other things or too worn to be repaired. My favorite was denim. Light the cloth off with a kitchen match and let it git a good fire going then beat it til where it was not flaming but just smoldering with smoke coming from it.
I'd take that and run around the yard with the smoke just trailing behind me like I was a train or a ship or something. Mostly, though, I was a gnat deterrent. :-) But, I can recall the smell of the smoldering cloth as though it were yesterday. No wonder I'm a pyro. :-) I love fires and the smells coming from fires. I've had that love all my life. The smell in the air when the fires are burning in Spring and Autumn.
Those Spring/Summer nights were special. Gnat smokes until after dark then catching lightening bugs until you had a jar full. We would get a real, honest tired that let us go to bed and right off to sleep. Only, to waken far too early. At least I did not have to jump out of bed and start the fire in the pot-bellied stove.
There is a feeling I had way back when (a half century ago) I wish I could experience again. Not going to happen as the only place it still exists is in my memory but I'd sure love to be able to go back and run around the yard with a gnat smoke.
Oh how I remember gnat smokes my grandparents made in Tennessee. Just like you described. In the evenings my grandfather would make one and we would sit around it and enjoy each others conversation. I love those days and also the smell of fireplaces and woodstoves burning. It reminds me of my loved ones long gone. We kids used to catch frogs and blue tailed lizards and play with them. Thanks for the memory jogging.
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