Everything you know is potentially wrong. I have made that statement before…and I’ll probably make it again. I am amazed by how much information I know, that is incorrect. A lot of this came from our Mothers, who presumably got it from their Mothers…who just didn’t know any better. Catch your death of a cold? Maybe. Because you went out barefooted or with your hair wet? Absolutely not! Colds are caused by viruses…not damp hair, or cold drafts.
My most recent adventure into the land of things I knew all wrong was after a recent trip to Otter Creek and the subsequent misery of chiggers. After several days of absolutely itchy misery, and refusal to paint my body with clear nail polish…as my Mother’s remedy (and husband’s) would suggest, I went to the good old trusty world wide web looking for remedy and relief. This is when I discover that all I knew about chiggers was absolutely, positively wrong…w-r-o-n-g! And somewhat to my relief, as I never found the idea of suffocating bugs while embedded in my skin as a particularly pleasant idea. This resulting in dead bugs decaying just under my epidermis…not good, not pretty, not particularly hygienic. I am not going to go into all the disgusting details, but chiggers do not burrow under the skin, they bite and feed. Nasty as that is, I still find it preferable to digging, burrowing and dying bugs on my body. As a side note, if you interrupt feeding, they die, as they have this one and only opportunity…so I feel some satisfaction in that, as I scratch in misery.
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