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The Teeny-Tiny Tennessee ChiggersDec 13 '07 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Even tiny creatures carry a powerful punch. Good things do come in small packages so treat them gently.
It was a miserably hot summer. It was the last summer of my youth when I was still a child; an adventurous, laughing tomboy that zoomed through each day with carefree abandonment. There are two Pilot Mountains in the region; Big Pilot Mountain and Little Pilot Mountain. We lived in Little Pilot along with all the wee chiggers in Tennessee! Every live chigger managed to attach itself to my skinnybody and inject its fluid with the fury of an enormous tsunami carrying huge boulders which attacked my fair skin with a fury known only to Mother Nature. There were bites everywhere; under my arms, around my waist, between my fingers, on my neck, my back, my ankles, my navel, and the cotton pickin' critters had even crawled inside my panties and feasted! There were red welts covering my body along with dabs of pink Calamine Lotion for the itching. Trust me; Calamine Lotion does not cut it! My fingers lacked nails for scratching (interpret that to mean "I bit them") so any object that could do the job, was used. Sticks, scissors, my sister's fingernails, tree bark, rocks, my brother's fingernails, and just about anything my stubby fingers grasped was used for relieving the torment of itching. FYI, a fork was my favorite scratcher of all time. There were four strong, metal tines with which to dig deep into my skin in order to get relief. Ahhhh, it was sheer bliss! My poor Mother despaired for the condition of my skin. It was my intention to placate her by picking some of the lovely white flowers which grew abundantly on our land. With a happy heart, I ran towards the house with my precious bouquet to give my Mother. Up the front porch steps I ran, opened the screen door and letting it bang shut behind me while shouting, "Mama, where are you?" I was hot, sweaty and flushed from running but knew my Mama was going to be pleased with her pretty white flowers. She walked through the kitchen doorway asking, "What on earth is wrong with you?" I thrust my flowers towards her saying, "Mama, I picked you some flowers. Aren’t they pretty?" "Dusty," Mama screeched, "Throw them away! NOW!" She was pointing her right index finger directly at my freckled nose and for a second, I fancied she was belching fire in my direction. Cries of excitement from my siblings rang through the house as they hurriedly rushed towards the kitchen in order to watch my humiliation. No one spoke, not even a whisper. My beautiful flowers dangled in my grip, as I myself hesitated to even breathe. Mama closed her eyes and rubbed both temples with her fingertips. "Come here, Dusty," Mama said. Slowly I walked towards her leaving all my previous joy behind me. She opened a drawer on the dining room hutch and removed a soft white cloth unfolding it upon the floor in front of her feet. She told us kids to get down on our knees around the cloth and looking at me said, "Dusty, turn your pretty flowers upside down and gently shake them over the cloth." Without question, I did as I was told. We watched as very tiny reddish, pink dots dropped onto the cloth and much to our amazement, they were actually moving. They seemed to be walking around, or maybe hurrying to get away from foreign land and back to familiar territory. As we watched this amazing sight, Mama quietly said, "These beautiful flowers you have brought me are called Queen Anne's Lace and where this flower grows, you will find hundreds of chiggers on each one, maybe even thousands. You are to never pick them again or to go anywhere near them. Do you understand me?" Jumping up, I ran to get the magnifying glass and then while lying on my stomach, I watched this group of tiny creatures in fascination. It wasn’t long before my siblings and I were arguing about whose turn it was to use the magnifier. We all lost the argument as Mom took it away from us, folded the white cloth up, and put it in a pot of hot water. My parents laid down some temporary laws. I was denied playing in the far field and beside the dirt road where Queen Anne grew here Lace. Until my chigger bites healed, I was forced to play on the porch or in the front yard. I wouldn't be going to town with everyone come Saturday. With my dark blue eyes slanted, I listened to my sibling's taunts and wondered how I could get even? Before going to bed that night (pretending to stay on the porch and watch the stars), I turned the covers back on my sister's bed and gently shook a handful of Queen Anne's Lace flowers (filled with tiny chiggers) onto her sheets and pulled the covers back up. I did the same thing to my brother's bed. Should I do the same to my parent's bed? It was a fleeting thought and one not worth considering. After all, my parents didn't raise a fool! Besides, I knew which side my bread was buttered on (and they loved me). ©ddustyrose December 13, 2007 President of SHLEPS This is my contribution to Diana's Just a LITTLE announcement: Time for the best LITTLE Write-Off Ever! To join in on the fun, click here http://www.epinions.com/content_5141209220/s_~na  |
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