I feel lucky that I’ve been on the farm for five years and have only now contracted lyme disease for the first time, but it’s also depressing. Three years ago Ed found ticks on the deer he shot. Our neighbors and the group of guys they hunt with - who are all in their seventies or eighties - found the same thing, and they said it was a first. It’s very mysterious to me that ticks, mice and deer could all have been on the continent since long before humans arrived but somehow not be at all common in this area. What has changed? Certainly, there are many more deer than there were even twenty years ago, and more farmland each year is turning back to forest. I have no idea how mouse populations have changed in this period, but I have a hard time believing the current environment are significantly more favorable than they were in the past.
Whatever the cause, I now have lyme disease. I am actually thankful that I have such an obvious bullseye, since I didn’t notice the tick on me. So far I haven’t developed many of the acute symptoms I experienced the only other time in my life I’ve had it, which is okay with me, since crippling fatigue and joint pain aren’t fun. Hmm. This post is kind of a downer. We did harvest our first ripe melon today, so that’s something.
-Garth
