What We Found at the River

We spent time on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning working at our small lot on the St. Francis River. Between weddings, anniversaries, graduations, birthdays, and assorted other special events, it's been a while since we've been there, and boy could we ever tell it.

Weeds of all types stood at least knee-high. The shortest walk meant a cobweb or two right in the face. Trees needed trimming. Bugs were everywhere, especially the most feared and disgusting one of all.

Yep, ticks. I bet I found at least 10 of those critters on me, and Hubby at least that many more. I found one on Indy's face and I'm afraid there may be more lurking on him. Finding ticks on a black dog is harder than hunting a cotton ball in snow. All I can do is shampoo him and wait.

Isn't it weird how fast finding a tick gives the creepy crawlies? Every little skin tickle or prickle caused me to drop whatever was in my hands and perform an immediate check. Luckily no one else was around to witness the images of pulled up shirts or dropped pants. After all, we weren't at Mardi Gras.

Ugh. I don't care how many romance novels feature vampires. In my opinion there's nothing sexy about something chomping on you for a quick meal. I wish mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, and all those blood-suckers could be obliterated forever. Of course that would probably mean the extinction of some rare and beautiful bird species who can only survive on a meal of mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas.

Oh, the cruel ironies of life...