Chiggers and Ticks, Oh, my!

Last weekend, I picked up my first chiggers and a single tick while walking Buddy in the tall grass. I hadn't realized it was warm enough but it was, so now I have a can of Off sitting next to the dog leash. The tick reminded me of a piece of living the writer's life that I thought you might enjoy. I had just sold my second picture book manuscript, "Over on the River," and George Ancona, the well- known photographer illustrator for children's books, had returned to Texas. He had done the illustrations for my first book and the editor wanted to make the second one a companion volume. The photo on the book's first page was to be of "a little gray house" that Papa built himself. We found just the one we wanted - an unpainted board and batten structure built by some early German immigrants who settled next to my paternal grandfather's place.The mid-summer photo shoot involved two small girls, sisters, who went to the same church as Don and I did. The girls donned their old-time costumes, took off their shoes, and had a great time running barefoot around the outside of the house while George took the pictures. That afternoon, as we returned home to Austin, the older girl said, "Mrs. Jackson, something's crawling on me!" A close examination showed a myriad of very tiny ticks all over both children. At that moment, I realized I had the same crawling sensation myself, as did Don and George Ancona, the ultimate New York City resident who'd probably never even seen a tick! In my defense, I must tell you that ticks are not as routinely ubiquitous in Central Texas as they are in the rural Ozarks. I don't remember having many at all when I was a child. Thus, I hadn't anticipated the problem and hadn't brought any tick repellent along. On that particular day, the girls had been running around under a large oak tree where cattle had stood. Ticks do tend to congregate there.How embarrassing! I hated to have to explain my lapse to the girls' mother but, as it turned out, I didn't have to. The girls practically fell over themselves showing all the tiny pin-prick size beasties to their mom. The mother took it in stride though. The girls had very thorough scrubbings in the tub, had their second shampoos in as many days and both heads of hair were ready the next morning for further modeling. I never look at that cute picture in Over On the River without remembering my horror as I realized we had a tick infestation and it was all my fault.As for the chiggers, I will simply offer this jingle: "There was a little chigger/ And he wasn't any bigger/ Than the point of a very small pin./ But the bump that he raises/ it itches like blazes/ And that's where the rub comes in!" Spray your feet, folks, before you walk through the grass.