Blood Suckers

This weekend I had an experience I hope I never had to repeat. Late Friday night, my husband felt something odd on his side. He had me look and I came face to face with a tick. Not a pleasant surprise in the least. We called around, woke several people up, and asked what we should do. When I called the emergency room, they told me to check their website. I was not amused but looked anyway. While my husband talked to his grandmother, I consulted the website.

I was pretty freaked out when I first saw the tick but after a few minutes I calmed down enough to attempt to remove it. Luckily it hadn't burrowed in and I could still see the head. That little sucker really held in tight. The biggest piece of information I got from the website was not to crush it when I pulled it out with the tweezers. After an especially hearty tug, I pulled the critter off and stuff it into a plastic bag. I cleaned the wound and was worried when my husband said the head was missing. I could see a little black spot in the opening and we decided I needed to try and get it out.

Ironically I cleaned a knife my father gave to my husband as a gift. It had never been used and had a sharp blade. So, I stabbed my husband with a knife from my father. Okay, not really, I didn't have the courage to break the skin and after I while I resorted to cleaning it out again. As I was cleaning my husband looked at tick again and realized that the head had no come off. About that time, I got the little black spot out.

We had a difficult time sleeping that night. We actually sang a song to try and calm down. It's not as if my husband went hiking or picked it up in a field. He was at work all day, in the shop, working on cars, though he is pretty sure he knows which vehicle it came from. He's sworn off working on that vehicle ever again. I'm inclined to agree vehemently with him. I never want to do that again.

I bet you thought this was about vampires. Don't even get me started. There is a time and a place for them, but I don't believe cults should form about such creatures. Than again, I don't believe there should be cults around anything.