Throughout the seasons, my sister gathers flowers and botanicals from her property to make fantastic arrangements. In the spring there are sweet nosegays of Trout Lilies, Virginia Bluebells, Dutchman Breeches and Jack-in-the Pulpit on her kitchen windowsill. In the summer, there are roses or Calla Lily bouquets. Lately she has been making wildflower arrangements that remind me of the Infamous Chigger Incident.
wildflower bouquet
Several years ago, in August or maybe early September, my sister and I went to the ‘club house’ in Van Buren County to hang out in nature for the weekend and to giggle as much as we pleased. Before heading home, we tromped through meadows full of beautiful wildflowers, taking photos and gathering bouquets.
farm flowers
We packed up our gear and hiked out. Back at the truck we started to change out of hiking boots and into street shoes when, to our dismay, we discovered we were covered with chiggers. Off came the clothes. We used our water bottles to remove as many of the nasty little beasts as possible. Hey, when you are being attacked by chiggers, modesty takes a back seat. It seemed rather curious that the county road grader showed up right then, especially as it was a Class C stub road to nowhere. It was even more curious that it took him so many passes to do, well, nothing.
Beth Ann took the prize for the most chigger bites. They started between her toes and worked their way up. If she had a dollar for every bite, she could have bought a week’s worth of groceries.