There’s this one parasite that I’m deathly afraid of. Unfortunately, having a dog who loves the outdoors brings me into contact with these suckers a little bit more often than I would personally like.
The other day I was speaking to my coworker about how I used to, keywords “Used to” be a tomboy. There was nothing more that I loved than playing outside, running through the woods and getting downright dirty.
That was until I met this parasite.
You see, in Upstate New York, it is a very rare occasion when you get one of these filthy arachnids stuck on you. But the good ole south is a different story all together.
The first time I came into contact with this parasite, it was attached to my arm. I remember this day like it was yesterday and it was 12 years ago.
On this one day it was a beautiful sunny day outside and I was getting ready to jump into our pool. For some reason I looked at my left arm and there was a spider looking thing on my arm. As you could guess, I flipped. I ran to the nearest towel and tried to rub it off. To my disbelief, it wouldn’t come off. I tried again and failed. It was stuck and it had no plans of leaving.
So the next thing I did was go running into the house yelling at the top of my lungs. “Mom! Dad! Get this thing off of me!”
Now mind you, we’re a Yankee family who just moved down to Georgia so they had NO idea what they were dealing with either.
It was a new experience for all of us.
After much debate and after finding a pair of tweezers, that sucker was finally pulled off of my skin. We ended up putting it in a sandwich bag so we could ask a family member who lived in the South for awhile what this creature was.
We learned quickly what to do when we came into contact with these suckers since that experience.
If you haven’t put it together by now, that filthy anarchid was a TICK!
That day changed it all! Instead of being that careful tomboy, I became a paranoid girly girl.
To this day, I don’t step off the paved path. I refuse to sit on the grass without having a blanket underneath me and you best believe Sadie gets checked for Ticks as I don’t enjoy when they come to visit me.
That experience was not my last experience with ticks and it makes my skin crawl every time I see one.
But I will say I’m more prepared mentally and physically now. My emotions still run high during times when the ticks decide to come visit but I handle it a tad bit better.
I’m not saying there isn’t any yelling because there is. A lot actually but I do eventually get the tick off.
Life without ticks was quite lovely. Not a care in the world. If you don’t live in an area where ticks are the norm, consider yourself lucky!
helluvalifewithcassnicole 