They say ticks are going to be really bad this year. A mild winter allowed more hosts to survive thus giving the tick population a head start. I’m out in the woods a lot so I try to be particularly careful. I have extended family members who have suffered from Lyme Disease for years after being told “It can’t be Lyme Disease…we don’t have that in Colorado.” Excuse me…they are cattle ranchers. They get cattle from all over the country. Are you telling me the ticks carrying Lyme Disease all jump ship when they see the “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” sign on the interstate? Not likely. It’s fairly widespread. And, sometimes it is of a variety that is not caught in the usual tests. Educate yourselves to the signs and symptoms of tick-borne illnesses and check yourself carefully when you come in from traipsing around in the woods and underbrush. That is one of the frustrating things about widowhood…no partner to help you check things out that need an extra set of eyes.

I found this bad boy on my living room curtain. This is the first one I have seen this year and it was in…my…house. Go figure. I remember as a kid we’d pull them off the dog at my Aunt Marge’s house. They would light a match, blow it out and place the hot end on the fat body of the tick and it would back out in a hurry. You never want to pull them out. The head is imbedded under the skin and it can stay there and get infected. Another way to get them to release is to coat them in a blob of petroleum jelly. They can’t breathe and back out, but it takes longer. I don’t know about you, but if I have one of these little suckers on me, I don’t think I can hang around too long waiting for it to release itself.

Mosquitoes are out, too. They can also carry diseases. There are sprays of course, but I prefer a deterrent without pesticides. I bought a big citronella candle the other day and that helps. I have found, though…like sunscreen…it doesn’t work if you don’t use it!

I’m amazed I haven’t run across any snakes since I’ve lived here. A guy driving up the road killed a copperhead out front last fall, but I’ve never seen anything else. Of course, I don’t go rummaging around in the brush pile and the creek either. So, maybe that’s why I haven’t seen any. I’d just as soon not. I’m not really afraid of snakes, per se. I’ve never ever seen a poisonous snake (alive) out on the farm, but I know they’re there and I’d just as soon not make their acquaintance.

Be safe out there, dear ones. There’s lots of fun to be had but exercising a bit of caution is a good thing. ❤️

“He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭105:31‬ ‭ESV‬‬