The tick

I got up about 8. My wrist was itching and I discovered a tiny tick hanging on. It looked like a speck of dirt, but with glasses and a magnifier, I was able to see that it had legs. I can only assume it came from Russel Cave, but how it took two days to bite me is beyond me. I sewed a seam on the doublet, then turned on the router. I called Faye and left a message. I looked up tick removal. The CDC website said to grab it with a pair of sharp tweezers and pull with even force until the tick releases. So I searched for sharp tweezers but did not find any. I tried fingernail clippers. But I was afraid to close it enough to grab the tick because I might clip it off. I looked up essential oils. There are a bunch they don't like. I added drops to a small bowl and mixed them with coconut oil. Then I dipped a paper towel in it and smothered the tick. But it didn't seem to care. I found a Tick Twister. There were two sizes and I chose the smaller one. I was barely able to get it under the tick. I tried twisting like they said, but it did not release and then it slipped through the slot. I gave up. I read e-mail and listened to audios. I made breakfast and ate it. I baked a batch of seed crackers.
Then I got dressed and put the doublet in a bag. I took it with me to quilting. There were not many women there. Christy borrowed a pair of tweezers and pulled the tick out, but there was still a black speck left inside. She tried to dig it out with a needle. I washed my wrist in the kitchen with soap. Then I forgot about it. I worked on the doublet while the conversation went around the table. Pat came in with freebies donated by someone in her Sunday School class. The fabric looked like feedsack. But there were lots of buttons. I went through them to see if there was anything that would look good on the doublet. Then I helped Pat move the rest to the group closet.
When I had done what I could with the machine, I used handsewing for the trickier parts. I finished whipstitching the lining on the back flap, then packed up. We all went out together. I spied plaintain growing in the grass and picked a leaf to take home. When I got home, Chris and Herberth had just arrived and were doing laundry. I washed the plaintain leaf. I chewed it up and spread it on my itchy ear. I looked at my umbrella to see what specifically was wrong with it. It looked like there was a gray thread running through the spikes at the center top. But when I got some heavy gray thread and went to thread it through, I discovered that it was a piece of wire that broke. I fixed it with thread, hoping that was good enough.
Faye called and I told her about the tick. She told me her tick story and how it ended with doxycycline. She urged me to go to a doc-in-the-box and get a round of it. I took some wormwood complex and made a mental note to see the Korean doctors tomorrow. Herberth helped me move the coffee table and couch so I could vacuum under them. I put strawberries and blueberries in a bowl to eat while I jotted notes for my blog. I read and deleted more e-mail. I practiced playing Lamb of God using the chords I thought were right. Then I started making a salad. Chris' phone rang and it was the interviewer for a job in Korea. I ate the salad while trying to listen to a podcast, but mostly hearing Chris. Then at 7, my tapping buddy called. I did not want to interrupt Chris' interview, so I took my laptop out on the back porch and plugged it in. I found a tub for it to sit on and I sat on a small bench. I had my pad of paper to take notes. And so we talked a bit, then tapped for awhile. And the bugs came out. So finally we signed off.
I thought Chris would be ready to watch TV, but I found him and Herberth sitting on the curb out front. They had been walking around post. I checked the mail, and there was only one envelop, and it wasn't for us. The three of us stood around talking and waving off the bugs. Then we came inside. Herberth kept talking, telling us how members of his family died. Then Chris and I sat down to watch TV, so he went to his room. We watched one episode of Inspector Lynley. Then we checked each other for ticks. And the sheets, too. It took some time. Then I got up to post to my blog.
* Here is a pic of Herberth posing on a log near Russell Cave. *