I was not surprised to see the heavy dew this morning considering how creepy-cool our moisture-laden air was before sunset last night. At first I thought it was fog, but not so. Our weather patterns have definitely changed, and certainly not for the better.
Once I had everything taken care of on the real estate side, I decided to change my clothes and get some outdoor work done before tomorrow’s rain arrives. When I went to grab my can of ‘Off’, I discovered it had barely a quirt left in it, so I went ahead and put my wide-brimmed hat on and then put that bug netting over it, which I was able to pull down around my face and neck.
While working away, I knew those black gnats were trying to get at me, because I could see them crawling around on that netting, but for some reason, I felt like I was getting poked once in a while on my face, and just as I finished up on what I was doing, I could sense there was something going on with my face because I could feel parts of it swelling.
Once I got inside, I took that netting off and then my hat, and to my shock, I could see I’d been bitten at least five times, and believe me, the swelling was beginning to grow to a point where I was getting nervously concerned, so I changed back into my good clothes and quickly drove off to Houck Drug.
As soon as I walked in, the pharmacist could tell I was in sorry shape, so I told her what happened, and her suggestion was to first use Benadryl on those bites and swollen areas. Fortunately she had the last tube of Benadryl on the shelf, so I purchased it while listening to her instructions. She had me all the more concerned when saying if I was having trouble breathing, I should immediately go to the Emergency Room. Now that was a scare.
When I got back to office, I quickly rubbed that Benadryl lotion on those bites and surrounding swollen areas, and about two hours later, I could tell it was beginning to work, yet I still have those wicked bite marks and swollen areas, but at least they’ve gone down to about half of what they were. Thank goodness I didn’t have to meet with anyone today because they would’ve thought I got it a fight with someone.
I wish someone would coming up with the answer as to where those black gnats came from, because for sure, they showed up for the first time, these last two years, and I knew from my very first bite by one of them, my body would have a noticeably negative reaction. Unfortunately, the last time I was bitten, which was on my neckline, it took almost two weeks for it to completely heal. I not so jokingly said to the pharmacist, “I wouldn’t be surprised if those evil black gnats were stowaways on a cargo ship from China.” So much for all the good globalization is supposed to be doing for us.
When visiting with a colleague of mine today, I found out she has similar reactions, which means such poor devils including me, have a genetic predisposition to having such episodes, so you can be sure I’ve already ordered an all-natural spray which had thousands of good reviews on it, and in the meantime, I’ll make sure I have a can of ‘Off’ readily available. There’ll be no more working outdoors or in my garden without protection. I do hope the swelling will be completely down by Sunday morning because all those in St. Paul Lutheran who’ll be watching me play, will be wondering what happened to my face.
The bulk of my afternoon was spent working on getting five homes arranged to be shown this coming Friday, and thank goodness I have them all set, which means I won’t have to be fussing with them tomorrow.
On the positive side of things, I’m sure many of you’ll be gathered with friends and relatives for this year’s 4th of July festivities. I’ll be interesting if we do get the rain they’ve predicted which will be putting a damper on outdoor gatherings. I do know several people who always have their main gatherings of families and friends on the 4th, so let’s hope the rain does hold off.
Tonight’s One-liner is: One extends one’s limits only by exceeding them.
