Wednesday, September 30, 2009

" It's Only a Bug "

I despise blood sucking insects. Mosquitoes ,Ticks and Fleas to be exact.
When I lived up north in Chicago , I had never even heard of ticks or fleas. And yes I had dogs when I lived there.






Now I know that there were ticks and fleas up there somewhere but I suppose they weren't as prevalent in the city environment.


Oh the stories I could tell you about my tick experiences after we had moved to Southern Illinois ! There are many but I will only tell you two very memorable ones that I have.


The first one took place when Katie was about thre
e years old. At that time we were renting a house "Down the road a piece" , which you could call country living. I'm a city girl , I don't like country living . Too many blood sucking insects.


We were living on about a half acre of land . Jake was on the riding mower while Ginny was using the push mower . It was all very noisy as Katie and I sat at the picnic table watching . As I was looking at my cute little Katie I noticed something on the back of her leg. Oh my God ! Horror of horrors , it was a tick!
You must understand that looking at a tick
makes me sick to my stomach!
Seriously .










I immediately started jumping up and down screaming my head off trying to compete with the very noisy mowers , all the while waving my arms violently. Go ahead and laugh . I don't mind. I'm sure it looked quite hysterical .


Eventually both Jake and Ginny noticed my
attempts for their attention and came running over to us , I'm sure in fear of something being terribly wrong. When they found me in tears pointing at Katie , I don't think that helped to calm their fears !
I remember forming the word "Tick" as Ginny started to search Katie's little body. Once Ginny located the little blood sucking insect , she carefully plucked it out.
I ask you , Is this not disgusting ? My Ginny is a brave , brave woman . Actually she was a brave , brave seventeen year old at the time ! As for my husband , well he just walked away shaking his head and I am q
uite sure that he was laughing at me as well!


My second tick story took place after we had moved into town and I was working at the mall one evening. My daughter-in-law had taken Katie, who was then about five I think, to one of her relatives house in the country. Here we go again, out in the country ! I had gotten off of work about 10:00 p.m. and Amy met me in the mall parking lot to drop Katie off. As soon as I got Katie buckled in the car and was ready to shut the door , Amy says to me " Oh yeah,
you might want to check her for ticks real good , the kids were playing in the woods, BYE. " .


Bye, bye, what do you mean bye ! This is what I was thinking as Amy was pulling away. Why do I have to check her for ticks ? I'm only her mother ! So I got into the car and started to feel my child's scalp. This is absolutely ridiculous having to check for blood sucking insects on my child . Amy had her in the woods , Amy should have checked her !



Oh Crap , no ! I felt something, I am feeling nauseous and exhausted from working. What to do , what to do . I am alone now. Jake is gone . Ginny has moved out. Wait a minute ! Ginny has moved out but she only lives a few blocks from my house. That's it, I will drive to Ginny's apartment and make her take it out. No cell phone back then.
So I sped away out of the mall parking lot. And yes I did speed. I was freaked out !


With stop lights and all I was at her apartment
within seven minutes. I was just short of hysterical. Poor Katie , I don't even know what she must have thought of her mother then. Probably that her mother is crazy. It's probably why she thinks that her mother is crazy today.


I ripped my child out of her car seat and ran up to Ginny's apartment house door. I rang the door bell incessantly I'm sure. Oh I can see her now as she groggily walks down the stairs to the main door. When she sees that it is Katie and I that woke her , well lets just say she didn't look happy !


My girls and I are speedy talkers. A trait I believe I acquired from living in the city and graciously passed on to them. Feeling sick and hysterical from this disgusting, blood sucking insect that is at that very moment sucking the life out of my child , I explain to Ginny as quickly as I can talk what is going on . Surely she will rush Katie into her sterile bathroom and gently and professionally remove this nauseating creature that is attacking my child.




Well Ginny did let us in . Thank GOD !! But lets just say she was less then happy with me. I remember hearing something about " I can't believe you can't do this yourself", and then she took the tick out and checked her twice all over, per my pleading request!


Katie is old enough now to check for ticks herself. It seems to be no big deal to her. She has even removed them from herself. I have been fortunate enough to never have had one stuck in me. If I sit outside under a tree or when we have been camping, I am continually running my fingers through my hair. And when we have been in the woods or fishing , I wear a hat and I check myself constantly.


I have had to brush one off of me from time to time but have never had one attach itself to me . I don't know what I would do if that happened and I were to be alone . Probably go bang on my neighbors door first and if she weren't there , well I'd most likely die on the spot of a heart attack.


Oh how embarrassing that would be !


50 comments:

Blessings each day said...

Well, you had me laughing the whole time...sad to say, you sound a lot like me before I was transplanted, or when I was first transplanted to the south and the 'land of the bugs everywhere'.

Happily none of my children nor me got any ticks...can't say the same for the dogs and Mario was the brave one to pull them out!

I still don't do bugs well, but I am way braver and will swat at them or spray them or stomp on them or yell MICHAEL, THIS IS A MANLY MAN'S JOB HERE!!!!

blessings and hugs,

marcy

Blessings each day said...

p.s. Guess you wouldn't want MY help if one was on you as that swatting and spraying and stomping could be a tad umcomfortable.

Diana said...

Hi Marcy,
Yes I hate the bugs too. Cockroaches are on my most despised list as well! Jake is fine with killing them for me except for spiders. He can't deal with spiders. So I do what you do, swat,spray and stomp them for him!
Love Di

Rebecca said...

I can totally identify with the bug crisis! I just don't like 'em! And ticks are low on the totem pole for me!

Eileen said...

Oh, bugs! Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Really don't like them at all! Especially don't want them in my home or on my body!
And especially, especially never wanted them on the kids!!
Once my second oldest son got one while walking in the woods with my father-in-law out on Long Island, he was only about two at the time. And I noticed it when I gave him a bath, it was a big black one. And it was really embedded!
I lit a match, blew it out, and touched it to the tick and I could see it loosen, then I plucked it out with a tweezer! Ugh!
My Dad had one when he was younger in his neck, he plucked it out, but the head was left in! It got infected and he got sick! So ever since I heard that story I've been freaked out by tics too!
One of our dogs had a giant tick, well, I realized it was giant because it was full with his blood! Gross!
We got it out but it was so hard to do, he was a Lhasa with LONG hair so I couldn't do the match trick, I just pulled and pulled on it. And it squished blood all over the place. The next day I took him to the vet and he said I got it all. Whew!

Whoa! Di, you are bringing back the eebie geebies to me with this post! I actually have goose bumps thinking of these things!
I hate them, but I would get it out for you, because I hate more the thought of them being on/in anyone!

Love you!, E

Dr.John said...

Ticks never bother me until the deer ticks started moving North. They carried lime's disease. That scared me.
Our dog always had one or two regular ticks.

Diana said...

Well Rebecca I do believe that ticks would be number two on my list of most despised insects. I know there is a purpose for everything but this one is tough for me to figure?
Love Di

Diana said...

Oh Eileen I am so sorry if I creeped you out. I really didn't mean to. You had some pretty gross tick tales yourself! They seriously make me sick to look at. I had a hard time posting that photo of the tick. Yuck!!!!

Jake and I were talking about blood sucking insects this past weekend and that's what made me think of them! I guess when you've been married almost twenty years you talk about anything!

Love Di

Diana said...

Dr. John,
It did not surprise me that ticks don't bother you! They don't bother my husband either!
Love Di

Ginny said...

Mom,
I do remember you waking me up to pull the tick out of Katie. You forgot to write about all the ticks I used to remove from our cat Perciville.

Also, you would not want to go camping at this spot where Daniel and I go to the bluegrass festival, there are tons of ticks. We probably pulled at least 10 off each other over the course of two days, maybe more.

Diana said...

Hi Gin,
Thank you for reminding me about Percy. I still don't understand how that doesn't bother you!

And you're right about me not wanting to go where you and Daniel are going camping. That is just gross. How can this not bother you?!

Love Mom

Bernie said...

Di, I have honestly never seen a tick until I looked at your picture....eek! Probably because I have never lived in a country setting and now I am sure I never will....LOL
My daughter used to be terrified of spiders and one night she went for a bath and started screaming so loud I thought something horrid happened and took off running to the bathroom, a spider was in the tub...I just picked it up with a piece of toilet tissue and flushed it down the toilet....my daughter wouldn't sit in a bath for months after that only would shower.
She has since changed as she had to confront them when she had her own home and children but she still doesn't like them....have a great evening....luv ya...:-) Hugs

Diana said...

Hi Bernie,
Spiders don't bother me too much, but they bother Jake horribly. It makes me feel good when I can protect him from them!
If you thought that photo of the tick was gross, you should see one when they are full of blood, oh Lord help me! I could not post a photo of that. You don't want to know my friend , trust me!
Love Di

Maria said...

Yes, the lovely tick... why did God make them? on my list to ask one day...

Both my lil' dogs were treated for lyme disease this summer... they were both limping and had bodies that ached.

My daughter Rachael had a tick in her arm after a field trip to fields where the karner blue butterfly has its habitat. (this was many years ago, now the school kids suit up for protection)

Good post as a reminder to check for them especially when in tall grasses.
Thanks for stopping by today Diana!

Wanda..... said...

What a subject...I can remember seeing ticks on our dog when I was little, but they must have all left Ohio and gone to west to Illinois and and east to New York, so don't send them back Di and Eileen. :) I have often worried about tiny deer ticks, but haven't come across any yet.

We haven't had a problem with ticks in all of the 25 years we've been living here...and I'm always going in the woods and field...we don't have chiggers to contend with either...another blogging friend in Idaho was covered with chigger bites, enough that she had to visit her doctor.

Have you read about hotels having a resurgence in bedbugs, even nice hotels. That makes me shiver!

Sleep well tonight Diana,
Wanda

Diana said...

Hi Maria,
I have often wondered why God gave us these little guys along with sqeeters and such! I suppose that it's a reminder that we're not in heaven yet!
Love Di

Teresa said...

Ewe, I am getting the heebee geebees, thinking about bugs, and ticks, and spiders, they always make me squirm.

I have never experienced ticks, and I do not think I want to. When we lived in California, I was shocked to discover the ant problem, you can not leave any food out, ever! You will have an ant swarm and and ant freeway, (ants coming and going), and the freeway can be followed all around a room, and in and out of drawers and cubboards...and they seem to get into the house from the most unusual places. They will even find food in your car if you park it overnight, and they always find your picnic basket, and honestly, you can get ants in your pants! Ants are annoying, but I have been very amused by them at times.

Also there are lots of fleas in California too, ugh!

Diana said...

I'm telling you Wanda, I never heard of ticks while I lived in Chi-town. And I lived there for almost thirty years. Fleas either for that matter. Maybe it's because the summers are shorter the further north ya go! We have the occasional chigger or two here but as I said we live in town. I hope you continue to be blessed with less of the blood suckers!
Love Di

Diana said...

Hi Teresa!
I have been having an ant problem in my kitchen lately. I've tried everything and they keep coming back. But I don't give up easily and I'm bigger than them!

I think that Canada must be tick free eh? Must be nice!
Love Di

Gail said...

HI DIANA-

Oh my goodness - you are hysterical. Although I feel exactly as you do - I cannot remove a tick,nope - can't do it!! Great post.

Love Gail
peace........

Diana said...

Thank you Gail I so appreciate your camaraderie! When faced with the tick, we shall be hysterical together! Love Di

Sniffles and Smiles said...

You are so hilarious!!!! What an absolutely brilliant sense of humor you have!!! I had my first, personal tick experience recently!!! And I hated it!!! You certainly speak for me!!! Love to you~Janine XO

Diana said...

Hi Janine!
I often find things hilarious! This is how I muddle through. I am sorry to hear of your recent disgusting tick experience! I hope that you never have another my friend! And Thank you for your kind words, they mean a lot coming from you!
Love Di

Teresa said...

Well, I think we have ticks, but I don't think it is as big of a problem. Probably too cold for the little "suckers".

Eileen said...

Wanda is right about the bedbugs! They are in a lot of the high-end hotels here in New York. We used to see so many mattresses being moved out of hotels in the city because of the bed-bug problem. I think it's subsided somewhat.
They said they were brought in by Europeans! Yuck!

We always stay in a really nice Italian hotel when we stay in the city, and I always try to inspect the mattress before we get into bed!
My sister-in-law and her husband had a big problem with her father-in-law and bedbugs, they had a Russian woman looking after him and she had relatives from Russia come stay at the house and they left bedbugs behind! They had to pull up carpets, throw out mattresses, and get all new upholstered furniture and have someone come spray everything else down! Ugh!

Bedbugs ~ what can they possibly be good for?!
Love, Eileen

Diana said...

Well Eileen,
As I used to always say to my kids as I would tuck them in at night, Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite! I don't know where that came from, I'll bet it's a really old saying! Love Di

faye said...

Hi..
Jackie asked me to relay a message.
She is away from her blog for a
few days , while taking care of her
mom ( H1N1 flu ). No internet access but she does have her camera and is saving a lot of images and stories for future blog use.
Her mom is improving.. slightly.

Terrie said...

Oh Di, I'm with you. I hate bugs, spiders and anything else that is creepy crawly. We don't have many ticks here in UT so I can't even imagine. Eeeeewe.
Terrie

Anvilcloud said...

Great stories.

I just returned from our west coast, just north of your Pacific Northwest, where there are no bugs, or very few. You can walk in the woods without being pestered by mosquitoes. It's crazy.

Barb said...

Call me anytime day or night, Di. I will remove the little suckers for you. It might take me more than a few minutes to get there, though! Snow at my house today so all ticks dead - I hope. (Actually, I've never gotten one here in CO...)

Unknown said...

I am hysterically LMFO! I am in my office at work mind you, just trying to look busy, always typing away at something reading blogs and stuff and then you come up with this post that puts me over the edge. I need every bit of laughter ya know, it is the BEST medicine in the world! I hate tics too! I always had my children twisted in the most unusual ways after a camping trip then had Huhoney remove the horrible creatures! OH THE MEMORIES! too funny girlfriend! lots of hugs and laughter...talk to you soon! I LOVE THIS VILLAGE! I am so thankful for my friends here!

Unknown said...

I hope you don't mind. I told my sis to write to you tomorrow...and let you know the outcome of my surgery. You all have been so kind and thoughtful...did I say...I LOVE THIS VILLAGE AND THE PEOPLE IN IT!

Diana said...

Hi Terrie,
You are so lucky my friend! It is one of the reasons I don't like it here, it's always humid and summers are long and hot. Perfect for the bugs! Another reason that I like winter! Love Di

Diana said...

Hi AC,
Oh to be mosquito free,
how happy I would be.

They've been horrible this year
you see,
Oh to be mosquito free!

Are you home yet?

Love Di

Diana said...

Hey Barb,
Thanks but I would die of a heart attack by the time you made it here! Are you back home yet? I will check my reader to see if you've posted.

No snow here yet! very nice though,40's in the evenings. Good sleeping weather! I did have to fire up the furnace the other morning for the first time this season. It was 39 degrees. I love it!
Love Di

Diana said...

Hi Linda,
I am so glad that I got you to laugh today. I have been thinking about you on and off all day. I keep thinking today is Friday and I almost emailed Terrie but remembered that it was only Thursday. I don't mind at all if Terrie emails me. I have to clean house in the morning but will be home by noon. I will be checking to see how you are doing. I am sending you all my love and prayers tonight Linda! I will be anxiously waiting to hear from Terrie! Love Di

Garnetrose said...

This country girl lives in the country and she does not like ticks either. When one gets on my animals I call my hubby or pass it to my daughter who bravely takes care of them. Not me.

Diana said...

Hi Garnet,
Your comment made me feel so much better, thank you! Most country girls I know, and I know quite a few, just think I'm silly!
Love Di

Jerelene said...

Hi Diana! I don't know what possibly could be good about ticks...or any other bug for that matter....It's wierd, but if a tick even crawls on me I itch all over for a very long time. I wonder if they bite you or something as they crawl around? The mozzies..I mean mosquitos have been terrible here as have been the fleas. We live next to the town cat lady though..so I think the stray cats help the flea population. Did you have strong winds a couple of days ago? I was loving it...it was blowing all the mosquitos away, so you could actually be outside and not be eaten alive!
Ticks...yuck!!!
Love You....Jerelene

Maude Lynn said...

The first time that I found a tick on my daughter, it totally freaked me out!

Diana said...

Oh Jerelene yes we did have those winds and it was so beautiful! Next year Jake and I are going to spray the yard for sqeeters and flees. We did it the year before last and it worked pretty well. I sprayed after the rain and after Jake mowed. Too late this year but will definitely do it in the spring!
Love Di

Diana said...

Mama Zen,
Welcome, and I still freak out! I just can't deal with them, nasty!
Love Di

Tranquility Speaks said...

I've never had any major encounter with ticks but I sure despise anyone who sucks blood. Mine to be precise. Here we get something called "Tick 20" which is supposed to rid beds from ticks. Sure helps!

I freak out as much as you when I am close to a creepy crawly. I have no love for them whatsoever!

Very well expressed Diana :)

by the way, how are you doing now? Have you recovered fully from the cold and fever?

Diana said...

Hi Tranquility!
We are all fine here now, thank you for asking!
Yes ticks are disgusting little creatures aren't they?
I hope you are doing well, I am guessing that you have been busy!
Love Di

Jackie said...

Hi Di...I scrolled...and scrolled and scrolled...but I'm not stopping until I get to the bottom...44 comments!! You go girl!!! I love your writing style...your graphics...but most of all: you! What a great post!! How could I smile about a tick?
Well, when Di writes it....it can be done.
Hugs and smiles to you, my friend!
Jackie

Diana said...

Hi Jackie!
It's great to have you back! Thanks for reading my tick adventures.
Love Di

Eileen said...

Di, what's going on with Linda? Have you heard anything?
'Hope her sister lets you know something soon.

'Hope you're enjoying a nice weekend.
Love you, E

Ginnie said...

Yuk...I hate those things and the little red ants that you can hardly see. They bite my legs and I have hard, swollen spots for weeks, not to mention the itching!

I'm sure they must have a reason to be on this planet...but I can't figure why !

Diana said...

Hi Eileen,
I'm sorry! I just posted about Linda! Love you, Di

Diana said...

Hi Ginnie,
I hate the bugs too! All of them actually! Are bug season is almost over here! I think for you and my Ginny,in N.C. your season is longer.
Love Di