Of all the things that I could have become unhinged about who would have thought it would be about ticks.
I come from a country where these are as much of a threat, but living in suburban bliss there I was seldom needing to deal with them. Here, near the forest in the country it's a different story.
This is not funny. It's not meant to be funny. I have this thing that all the ticks have conspired against me and are waiting on every long blade of grass and hanging from every overhead branch just to jump on me. I am neurotic about changing my clothes, I feel as though wherever I look in the house, I may see one ambling over towards the fridge, maybe in search of a beer. If you have ever seen the movie "Joe's Apartment" with the cockroaches - picture that. This is how I feel about the ticks.
The more I think about them, the more I feel as though they are on me, the more I feel like I am being bitten and strip down, check and change my clothes. If you have ever worked in a school when the lice epidemic hits... you know how suddenly your head itches, even if you don't have lice. It's all in your head. (excuse the pun). (Am willing to bet you will scratch your head now just reading the word "lice!")
I know that as I write this it's completely over the top, paranoid and neurotic. The more I try to talk myself out of it, the more freaked out I become.
This afternoon I have made a mental decision that as difficult as this is for me to deal with, I refuse to let it destroy the time I have in the forest with the dogs. I know in my head I can't live in the "What-if" mode of this thing... I will adapt the old idiom to say "Better to have lived and walked in the forest, than never to have walked at all". Which sounds very dramatic.... but I FEEL DRAMATIC about this!
The dogs now have collars, we bought spray we can spray them with before we go out as a deterrent. We will check them and us when we get back and I will do my level best not to have a small meltdown every time we find one on the dogs.
I guess a real bonus of winter is that this is not an issue.... but I'll be buggered if they will ruin my summer.
Helpful tips & encouragement are welcome. Horror stories are not.
I come from a country where these are as much of a threat, but living in suburban bliss there I was seldom needing to deal with them. Here, near the forest in the country it's a different story.
This is not funny. It's not meant to be funny. I have this thing that all the ticks have conspired against me and are waiting on every long blade of grass and hanging from every overhead branch just to jump on me. I am neurotic about changing my clothes, I feel as though wherever I look in the house, I may see one ambling over towards the fridge, maybe in search of a beer. If you have ever seen the movie "Joe's Apartment" with the cockroaches - picture that. This is how I feel about the ticks.
The more I think about them, the more I feel as though they are on me, the more I feel like I am being bitten and strip down, check and change my clothes. If you have ever worked in a school when the lice epidemic hits... you know how suddenly your head itches, even if you don't have lice. It's all in your head. (excuse the pun). (Am willing to bet you will scratch your head now just reading the word "lice!")
I know that as I write this it's completely over the top, paranoid and neurotic. The more I try to talk myself out of it, the more freaked out I become.
This afternoon I have made a mental decision that as difficult as this is for me to deal with, I refuse to let it destroy the time I have in the forest with the dogs. I know in my head I can't live in the "What-if" mode of this thing... I will adapt the old idiom to say "Better to have lived and walked in the forest, than never to have walked at all". Which sounds very dramatic.... but I FEEL DRAMATIC about this!
The dogs now have collars, we bought spray we can spray them with before we go out as a deterrent. We will check them and us when we get back and I will do my level best not to have a small meltdown every time we find one on the dogs.
I guess a real bonus of winter is that this is not an issue.... but I'll be buggered if they will ruin my summer.
Helpful tips & encouragement are welcome. Horror stories are not.
Totally agree.
ReplyDeleteI loathe them
Is there an anti-tick spray, along the lines of mozzy repellent, that you could use maybe?
I know there is stuff at "SA home", but need to check here too. I am sure there must be!
Delete