Ticks Off

My forester neighbor, Lynn, took a friend out to the woods with her. Lynn was wearing permethrin-treated gaiters. When they got back in the car, her friend had 4 ticks on her socks; Lynn had no ticks on her.

Okay. Now I'm serious about ticks. This morning i sprayed half of my gardening clothes with permethrin, an anti-tick spray. It's probably the same spray i used to spray all my clothes before i packed for India and again for southeast Asia.

While some people bewail the preponderance of ticks outdoors, i think of Lyme disease as our version of malaria. We have had the great good fortune to live in a safe area until just a few years ago. Now we join the rest of the world in having a nasty insect-borne disease.

We are of the nature to become ill--whether or not we want to. My friends with Lyme disease have on-going health issues. My heart goes out to them.

It's hard to have any sympathy for the ticks, but if they stay off me, they will have a much better chance of staying alive.