tick suit

So here I am out in the rural area Southeast of Kansas City, Missouri.  I've been keeping a journal, but my family of bloggers recommended I share my little adventure this way.  It's a good fit, especially since I was just considering a weekly newsletter email.  I know there are a lot of you who miss me and want to keep up with my adventures out here.

For starters, I decided to forgo the expense of renting a place to rough it in the woods.  That's right, my latest 'Daniel did WHAT?!?!?!?' stunt is that I'm living out of a tent in the woods.  I'm nestled deep in the thicket, somewhere in the 1,800 beautiful acres of Blue & Grey Park, near Lone Jack, Missouri.

Most of you who know me well will realize that rather than an inconvenience, this is my heaven.  My 12-year-old heart is beating a happy dance with this faux summer camp.

So far, there's been only one inconvenience:  Those darn deer ticks!  The little buggers are as overpopulated as the deer they feed on, and getting to and from the tent usually involves the removal of a dozen or so.  I have been pretty careful about it;  the last thing I need is an infected bite, or worse, lyme disease.  I've designated a set of clothes as my 'brush traversing' gear:  boots, pants, long sleeved shirt, floppy hat, and gloves.  These are worn between truck and tent only, and promptly removed upon arrival at either end.  It's preventing the destruction of all my clothes (the horse trails are pretty muddy with all the rain), and helping to keep the tick issue minimized.  Last night I added the extra step of dousing the whole suit with 25% DEET Deepwoods OFF!.  It seems to have worked.  I didn't find a single tick on myself or the clothes last night!  Hallelujah!!!  I was doing a little research yesterday on the CDC website's post about lyme disease, and they mention that clothes can be treated with Permethrin, which I had never heard of.  Apparently it's more effective than DEET, and remains effective through several washes.

(Did I mention how muddy the horse trails are?)

That's all for now, I'll share some of my inventive solutions to basic necessities in future posts.  Fair winds and following seas!

=)
Daniel