Thursday, May 11, 2006, 18:33
Wind. . .Deer Ticks. . .And the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. . .
It feels like it could snow today. Seriously. The temperature is 38 degrees Fahrenheit with a 30 mph wind blowing out of the west/northwest.
The weather forecast is not predicting snow for this part of the state. A winter storm watch has been posted for the northeast part of the state, though.
A winter storm watch. In the middle of May.
I was thinking about getting the mower out today and mowing the grass around the garden and behind the barn. But after being outside in the wind for a while, I decided to wait and see if it is less windy tomorrow. I figure if I get the mower out, by the time I'm done in this wind, I would be covered with grass clippings. And, quite frankly, I would rather not deal with the mess!
I was right about the deer ticks yesterday, too, and I could hardly wait for Randy to come home Wednesday evening.
As soon as he walked in the door, I made my appeal.
"Would you please help me?" I said.
"Sure," Randy replied. "What do you need?"
"Could you pull out a deer tick for me?" I said.
I had discovered an embedded deer tick on the upper part of my rib cage, underneath my right arm. It was in such a place that I couldn't get at it very well to pull it out with my left hand, which is awkward for me anyway, seeing as I am right handed.
I pulled up my shirt to show him the deer tick.
"Right," he said. "That's got to come out."
He grabbed hold of the tick with his fingertips and yanked.
"Yeeeee-ouch!" I said.
"I know," he said. "They hurt, don't they."
That's one thing about a deer tick. They are extremely painful. Wood ticks, when you pull them out of your skin, hardly leave a mark. But the deer ticks are a different story. A red, raised, swollen, painful lump showed where the deer tick had been. Randy put antibiotic ointment and antihistamine cream on it for me. But the spot hurt every time I moved my arm, and in fact, today it is still painful every time I move my arm.
I discovered another embedded wood tick last night, too, when I took a shower before going to cover a hypnotherapist for the newspaper who was doing a presentation at the library in Menomonie last night.
The second deer tick was on the back of my neck, underneath my hair, and it was a tiny one. Small enough that I could just scrape it off with my fingernail. The tiny nymph deer ticks are the ones that are most often implicated in transmitting Lyme disease. The tick was only embedded for a few hours, though, and as I understand it, they have to be embedded for 24 hours before they can transmit the disease.
Unfortunately, even just thinking about deer ticks makes me feel creepy-crawly again!
The hypnotherapist was interesting. Hypnosis, as you may or may not know, is merely a way of talking to yourself so that you actually listen to yourself. He has, he said, even had success in treating diabetics. The disease is still there, but through hypnotherapy, their blood sugar is reduced, so they need less medication.
The hypnotherapist, Steve Russell, was once part of a comedy juggling act with his wife, Kobi Shaw. They called their act "In Capable Hands," and they traveled the world over, entertaining vacationers on cruise ships. When their first son came along, they decided to retire from the cruise ship circuit.
They have not, apparently, retired from doing comedy acts together because Steve and Kobi will be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno either on May 18 or May 23 as part of the segment "Does this impress Ed Asner?"
How did a comedy team from tiny little Colfax, Wisconsin, end up being booked for the Tonight Show?
At the urging of friends, they sent a videotape. The producer, who said he almost never does this, plucked their tape out of the pile on his desk, put it in the VCR, found himself laughing, and then found himself calling Steve and Kobi.
Kind of gives whole new meaning to the phrase "lucky break" doesn't it.
LeAnn R. Ralph
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006, 19:47
Sumac
I am becoming concerned about the clump of sumac in the ditch just up the dirt road from our house.
The rest of the trees along the road and in the woods are one-third to one-half leaved out, and by that, I mean that the trees have green leaves that are one-third to one-half the size they will be when fully leaved out. In other words, the landscape is greening up nicely around here!
Except for the sumac. The sumac trees do not have any leaves, and from the looks of it, they only have a few buds on them.
As I think back, though, I recall that I have been worried about the sumac other years, too. The sumac, it seems, leaves out much later than all of the other trees. The elderberry is not leaved out, either, but I know the elderberry do not bloom until early June, so it doesn't seem so unusual that the elderberry do not have leaves.
I like sumac. The trees (or bushes or brush or however you want to describe it) have interesting shapes. The trunks and branches are not straight, but instead, make graceful curves as they reach toward the sky for sun and rain. In the fall, the sumac leaves turn a brilliant red, and when I drive around the area, I enjoy seeing the masses of bright red sumac leaves, most often outlined against a hillside. I have read, too, that you can make lemonade out of the red clusters of sumac berries, although I have never tried it.
The other thing I like about sumac, but which I did not know until recently, is that sumac has a beautiful yellow-green wood that is lovely when it is used to make a bowl or a picture frame or a cup or a small table top.
I found this out a few years ago when I purchased a sumac bowl from a man who does woodworking and lives in my hometown. I never would have guessed that the ordinary-looking light-gray sumac bark hides such lovely wood.
Three and Counting -- I took Charlie for a nice, long walk in the woods this morning. Pixie stayed home. A couple of weeks ago, she got tangled up in some long grass and old thatch by Isabelle's pasture, twisted her leg, apparently, and hurt herself. She has been limping around since then, so I have kept her on "light duty" and have not taken her on any long walks.
Charlie enjoys getting out for long walks. Taking him out for a jaunt helps him to be a happier dog, too, because when he's lying around the yard after a long walk, he's tired and drowsy and relaxed and not thinking about getting into trouble.
But just now, I picked off the third deer tick that I have found crawling on me so far today. Ick. I feel all creepy-crawly. I hope that I only acquired three deer ticks. But I bet there's more.
Usually the deer ticks are bad around here just as soon as the snow melts. But this year, I haven't found very many deer ticks on the dogs or me or the horses. Mostly wood ticks. But not very many of those, either. Perhaps the deer ticks are coming out in full force now. If so -- it's time to be careful when going for a walk in the woods. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
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