Beware the horse fly!

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Ever been bitten by one of these?

Yeah, it hurts. Leaves a nice bloody cut and that’s only the beginning.

If you’ve just been bitten once or twice that day, later on the site will swell to the diameter of say, a baseball, may be a grapefruit. It will itch incessantly for about a week as it gradually fades, leaving behind tiny scabs all over it. Oh yes, it is gross my friends, make no mistake.

However, if now you are super sensitive to the insect’s venom (see where I’m going with this?) and you get bit again, say, on your middle toe, well, a baseball sized swelling is the least of your worries.

This happened the day before yesterday and since the evening of the sad event, my foot has been swollen to the ankle, red, stiff, painful, and yes, ITCHY BEYOND BELIEF!

Allergy meds, Tylenol, hydrocortisone cream, AfterBite, lye soap, baking soda paste, you name it, all give temporary relief, thankfully, but seriously, how long will this insanity endure??

Add this to one more reason I do not want to live in Minnesota!

Every time I am lulled into a false sense of see-MN-is-actually-a-beautiful-state serenity (swimming in the nice, clear lake, the sun is shining, birds are chirping, fish are biting – literally these little sunfish are nibbling on our fingers and legs) – and KABLOWY! HORSEFLY ATTACK (just input mosquito, gnat, or any other random flying, vampirous insect in Minnesota!)

Need I say more?

(Although, I must say, getting away from the Georgia cockroach is not so bad, either.)

Sayonara from the bunk bed in the cabin with my foot propped up (poor me)~