First Steps
It would be nice to say we were off and
running, but the truth of the matter is that we are off and ITCHING! One of the
first things we did was to walk the property lines of our 7 acres so that we
had a better feel for the boundaries. We started from the road at the left hand
corner post and headed through the tall grass to the back corner post that
stands on the edge of a small spring fed brook. The property line follows the
brook along the back edge of the property and then it heads back to the road
after a jog to the right through heavily overgrown woods, brush, pricker bushes
and vines so thick that you really can’t walk through them.
I truly enjoyed every step and got more
excited the more we walked, but it came with a price……..Chigger bites! For
those of you who don’t know about Chiggers, they are in the arachnid family and
are so small that you need a magnifying glass to see them. They especially like
ankles, feet, and waistbands but really aren’t that picky overall. They produce
a bite that, in my opinion, is one of the worst itches you could ever have. The
other lovely thing about a chigger bite is that they will ooze and weep fluid,
and the healing process takes at least two weeks.
Julie and I both came home with many
bites, but my ankles were the worst! It is disturbing to look up photos of
chigger bites on the internet (which always shows the worst case scenario) and
realize that you have them worse. We have heard and tested about a million old
wives tales on how to stop the itch, and found that not one of them actually
works. We also learned that about the only thing that will reliably thwart
chiggers is Deet.
The good news is that summer is almost
over and as soon as the temperature drops below 62 degrees, the little monsters
become inactive. Until then, we will coat ourselves in Deet before we venture
into the tall grasses and brush.
~ Terry
~ Terry
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