Certain things in life are predictable, even when we don't understand how they happen.....or why. The swallows return to Capistrano, salmon swim upstream to their spawning grounds, there is a vernal equinox and another in the fall........and those pesky, itchy, nearly invisible, infernal chiggers come our to torment and cause me to scratch and scratch and spend a fortune on remedies which never seem to work.
As warm, no, hot weather has come to Eureka Springs, so have the nasty "c" creatures and their signature bumps and welts. For some people it is almost unbearable as the critters work their way up from the feet to places higher up on the body. Everyone seems to react differently, with some never bothered at all while others are in torment worse than Job. I thought the lye soap I started using was the cure-all, but it is not and the Benadryl, Calamine, deodorant, window cleaner, bleach, rubbing alcohol, blah blah blah blah, blah blah all have minimal to no impact. Spraying with products containing Deet work a little, but it is so oily that it attracts a lot of dirt and makes your legs and socks look like Pig Pen from the Peanuts comic strip has taken up residence in your body.
There is also the concern that with the chiggers come ticks and mosquitos and all the diseases associated with their bites. Some people attract ticks, but not chiggers, others chiggers but not ticks, some mosquitos and others poison ivy, oak or sumac, and some get them all. I guess with the unique finger prints for every person, there is a unique critter-susceptibility and we don't get much choice in the matter. Karen (who is totally unaffected by ticks, chiggers or mosquitoes), heard about some new concoction the campground up the road is selling for chigger control, so we will give it a try and if it works, it works, and if not...........Scratch on. Maybe one day we'll know...........why?
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