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Black Flies

Everybody has been freaking out for about the last two months about the mosquitoes with all the rain we've had.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like them either. They have always left a nasty little bite on my skin. My mom says it's because I'm so sweet. That's why they like me so.

My mom had the perfect medicine for the bites too....I don't remember what it was called, but it looked to be about a 30-year old bottle.

Brown glass...hard plastic applicator....and it burned like fire.

It was the external equivalent of ipecac...that stuff would mess you up. I knew it would work every time and I would stop scratching at the bites, but the price you had to pay for relief was massive temporary blinding burning pain.

I'd buy that stuff again in a heartbeat, but I don't know where to find it. Perhaps a voodoo medicine shack. It may have had snake venom in it, I couldn't tell you.

Eventually growing up...I got to the point where I could treat myself with it...then nearly pass out in the bathroom floor.

Anyways....this year, it's not the mosquitoes that are bothering me....

It's those spawn of Satan black flies.

I made the mistake a few weeks ago of playing golf at River Creek without spray-on protection and came away with no fewer than 12 agonizing bites around my ankles and lower legs. I didn't know at the time what they were, but I knew they weren't the usual blood-suckers.

I didn't even scratch them and they were driving me crazy. These little buggers meant business.

Now, I'm usually pretty good at resisting the scratch, but there were so many and it was such a different kind of pain. So I went looking for the brown glass bottle solution.

Of course, I didn't find it, but I did pick up some general antiseptic stuff that was in a small green bottle. It looked similar so I figured what the heck, I'd give it a shot.

It's helped a lot.....those dozen or so bites went away.

Now...there's a new one, right on the top of my left foot....no doubt from my wearing sandals all weekend. Good news, I've been treating it with the snake oil...bad news, I've gotta wear tennis shoes at some point.

I'm ready for winter...so a freeze will kill off all these vermin.

Posted by Jason Palmer at 1:37 PM | Permalink