Signs of Summer

Summer is nearly here. Damn! I do enjoy the nice weather, but nice to me is sunny and mid-60’s, not the hot and humid lazy days with temps of 75+ that we here in the Midwest are so accustomed to. Besides the hot and clammy weather, there are a few other things I resent about this time of the year.

First of all: TICKS!! They seriously give me the creeps. For a girl who could spend all day wandering through the woods or messing in a garden, (as long as the heat is not too bad), you would think that I would be used to the freaky things by now, but I’m not. Last night I was lying in bed petting Peanut. As always he was lying on my pillow and I had my arm up over my head petting him. Then I felt a weird bump on him. I started bawling and jumped up, I made check him. Sure enough, it was a tick. I realize that to be 25 years old and crying because your dog has a tick is a little over-the-top, but they seriously freak my shit out! I don’t understand where he could have even been to get into ticks. When I worked at the farm and would take him with me, he and the barn dog roamed the woods all day long, and I never found one on him. *SHUDDER* It still gives me chills to think about it.

Last weekend we were at the house of some friends and they have a handful of trees and a wood pile close to where we were sitting. Once we got home Jake jumped in the shower to scrub the smell of campfire out of his hair and he shouted out to me that once he was done he was going to “check me for ticks”. He of course was referring to the Brad Paisley song “Ticks”, one of last summer’s anthems on country radio.

I still have goose bumps just thinking about how my dog was lying on my pillow while a blood-sucking parasite latched onto his little body. BARF!!!

By the way, Peanut was extricated to his own bed on the floor on the opposite side of the room as me. And I am seriously considering a Chinese Crested as my next pet, it would be pretty hard to miss a tick on a hairless dog. Just kidding!