You know when you’re growing your grey hair out, how your hairdresser tells you that you should use this purple shampoo once in awhile? You don’t? Well let me tell you, there’s a lot more to understand about having grey hair than I realized when I made the decision to stop having it colored way back in October.
But that’s not what this post is about.
Late yesterday afternoon I suddenly couldn’t stand being in the house a minute longer.
I’ve been good about staying home, only going out for groceries. Yes I did take Katie to the woods for a walk one day — we saw no one else on the damp, drizzly forest trail. And four weeks ago I took a drive by myself to photograph barns, another instance when I just couldn’t stay here for another moment.
Yesterday I just had to go somewhere so I went to a local park, the one where nature trails wander up over grass covered hills. Getting there around 7:00 p.m. I thought the sky looked interesting. Maybe there would be a sunset worth watching.
I had fun just wandering around. Especially when I found a patch of little lupine hidden among the tall grasses. With the sun slowly lowering the blossoms were lit in the prettiest light. I spent some time walking through the grass, crouching down as I tried to get that light just so.
And then I walked the rest of the way up the hill to see what the sun and clouds had planned for their last show of the evening.
Turned out the sun slid behind a tall pillar of cloud long before sunset officially arrived. And there wasn’t really much color. Still I took a few shots before I wandered back down toward the car.
And that’s when the storm front moved overhead. The sky darkened and became absolutely beautiful with tall white clouds the center of attention against the black ones following close behind.
I took a lot of pictures of that combination, the black and white clouds hovering low over the rolling hills. The darker it got the more dramatic the sky became.
And the more the mosquitoes swarmed. The swallows began to fly lower, scooping up the bugs and the sky grew darker and I hurried to the car, making it to cover just before the rain set in.
I was pleased with the pictures I had, but less pleased, later that night when I found two ticks, one on my leg, and one on my neck. Well darn. I’m not sure those lupine shots were worth it!
The rest of the night, and all day today I kept thinking I felt things crawling on me. Finally I decided to take a hot shower and before I got in I remembered that purple shampoo I’m supposed to be using once in awhile. It’s been more than awhile since I used it, so I grabbed it out of the cupboard and shampooed up, wondering why grey hair needs purple shampoo. And then I felt it. A little bump, right on top of my head. About the size of a tick.
Frantically I squeezed it between two fingers and put it on a shelf where I tried to see what it was. Not wearing glasses I couldn’t see anything. I turned off the water, stepped out of the shower and tried to grab my glasses from the vanity. That movement made the purple shampoo drip into my right eye. It stung. Now I really couldn’t see anything.
Dripping all over the floor I grabbed a towel and tried to clear up the stinging eye, but no luck. And whatever it was was still lurking in the shower. So I put my glasses on and using one eye went back into the shower to examine the ‘bug,’ hoping it hadn’t crawled away.
Turns out it was a bit of dried up purple shampoo, from the bottle that hadn’t been used in longer than awhile.
Well that’s a relief. Apparently the cost of the walk in the hills was only two ticks, I guess those pictures were worth it after all. But next time I take a shower to make sure I’m tick free I’m going to put my glasses somewhere I can reach them without getting out of the shower.
And maybe not use the old purple shampoo.
May 29, 2020 at 12:07 am
Made me smile. I’m glad it wasn’t another tick. 🙂
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May 29, 2020 at 7:43 am
Me too!
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May 29, 2020 at 5:42 am
It drives you crazy …that feeling that there’s something on you. Only ever had one tick on me ..on my back and was lucky to see it in the mirror and get Dave pull it off …but for days after I was constantly checking and feeling like things were crawling on me.
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May 31, 2020 at 11:00 am
I never had any one me either, in all my (then) 63 years…but now it seems to be a thing and I agree, it makes me crazy.
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May 29, 2020 at 6:21 am
What happened to our environment that now we have ticks all over the place? This my fourth year of experiencing ticks. Before that I had no idea what a tick looked like. I hate them. It makes me go on fewer walks.
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May 29, 2020 at 7:45 am
I know. I never saw a tick before 3 years ago when a friend and I went camping and ended up with dozens of ticks that we picked off each other. This year is supposedly going to be bad for ticks because we had a mild winter. I can see that it will be. I have had one other instance of finding a tick after I went for a walk in the park. I am being more vigilant checking Katie after we’re outside.
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May 29, 2020 at 2:24 pm
It varies a lot year by year and week by week, too. And what the population of various tick-bearing wildlife is in the area, in particular. And some to do with the weather in general or that season or that week. I used to walk my dogs in the hills often. Often on the same trails. Mostly with no ticks. And then one day I’d be brushing them off the dogs constantly while we were walking (that’s one reason for having short-haired light-colored dogs–which I mostly have not had), and when I checked when we got back to the car, there were many more still on the dogs that I pulled off before heading home. And then other times in the same area, again, nothing.
Good Q&A about this: https://www.al.com/news/2019/05/why-are-there-more-ticks-now-what-you-need-to-know.html
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May 29, 2020 at 4:59 pm
Thanks for the information, Ellen!
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May 29, 2020 at 7:41 am
Looks like it was a great walk. Glad it wasn’t a tick – if they are on for an hour or two, no big deal, but after 24 hours? yeah, you’d need to call the doctor’s office…
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May 29, 2020 at 7:46 am
So far I’ve caught them quite quickly. Had one other instance this year when I got home from a park with Katie I found one on my leg. Haven’t seen any on her yet. You’d think if one of us was going to get ticks it would be the one who sticks her head into every clump of grass along the way.
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May 29, 2020 at 7:43 am
The pup had one on the inside of her ear one day but no one else just her. First tick I have seen in over 20 years. I know that feeling of something on you I think its that it gives us the creeps and then we think they are all over us. I hope Katie did not get any.
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May 29, 2020 at 7:46 am
So far I have not found any on Katie. It’s quite the job checking her, so much fur to search!
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May 29, 2020 at 8:37 am
I know that is right.
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May 29, 2020 at 2:27 pm
I also get the creeps once I have found a tick on a dog or me. Feels like they’re crawling all over me but yet there’s nothing there. Eeek.
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May 29, 2020 at 8:47 am
That was good for a chucke. But ewww, ticks. We rarely see them, thankfully.
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May 29, 2020 at 12:27 pm
I never saw them either, for years we’ve lived here in the relative country, walked the dogs in the woods, never saw one. But the past 4 or 5 years they are much more prevalent.
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May 29, 2020 at 8:56 am
This was funny/not funny. I use that purple shampoo, too. And to think that when I was such a smart and savvy teen, I used to laugh at those blue-haired ladies. I use that shampoo twice a month, though, otherwise I would be one of those ladies!! Purple hair rules! 🙂 My husband is always worried about chiggers when we go hiking. The photos are great, but be careful, Dawn.
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May 29, 2020 at 12:28 pm
Twice a month, I should be able to remember that…but I have trouble remembering anything lately. What does it do exactly? I get chigger bits whenever I go visit family in Alabama. Walking from the house across the mowed yard to the dock is enough to get them. I used to visit for long weekends, and of course the bites didn’t become itchy for a few days, usually on my flight home. It was miserable!!
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May 29, 2020 at 3:55 pm
The shampoo is supposed to brighten and whiten. Ask me if I can tell….. I’ve never had a chigger bite so I don’t know how they feel. Don’t wanna know, either!
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May 29, 2020 at 10:37 am
Reading this post sure made my skin itch. Ticks are a big problem in Maine, too, especially for someone like me who does a lot of gardening. Always lovely to see pictures of Katie, who doesn’t have to worry about purple shampoo. I don’t either. I suppose it’s because my hair was so dark—almost black—before I turned gray. Now it is a salt and pepper, and I don’t really have to do anything special. Yay! Finally, beautiful pictures.
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May 29, 2020 at 12:30 pm
I don’t do much with my hair either. Especially since there are no salons open anyway. It was very fortunate that I decided to let it go last fall…now it doesn’t really matter to me when they get back to work other than I could use a trim, but even that is no big deal. And of course I feel bad for the woman who used to do my hair every 6 weeks, don’t know what she’s living on these days. I’ll have to tip big when I get that trim someday!
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May 29, 2020 at 12:46 pm
Yes, yes! Feel very bad for all the hairdressers and other folks whose livelihood has been affected.
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May 29, 2020 at 11:13 am
Eww, ticks! I always kept preventative on Dallas because NO WAY would I have ever found a tick in all that fur! I realize they also get on people, but I’m not much for going where they hang out, and I hope I never get one. Your shots, by the way, are gorgeous, especially the Princess looking bored (I’ve seen that same expression on Dallas’s face!). I didn’t know about the purple shampoo, not that I ever intend to not keep my hair stylist in business with highlighting and such!
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May 29, 2020 at 12:31 pm
Katie gets flea and tick preventative too. I wonder if there’s such a thing for humans! 🙂 We have found, in her 13 years, one tick on the top of her head. My sister (from AL) happened to be here and was sitting on the floor petting Katie and found it. It was the first ever tick I had ever seen. Now all the ticks I’ve seen have come from me! I check her regularly though, just in case.
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May 29, 2020 at 1:51 pm
The joy and perils out in nature. I have plenty of lupine in my garden. Have silver not gray hair since I can remember and the blue shampoo is good for removing the blond sediments. I am wary of ticks! But hey, what a tale to tell!
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May 29, 2020 at 5:01 pm
I have some lupine in my yard too, but it hasn’t bloomed yet, must be another variety. The ones on the hill were tending to being done.
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May 29, 2020 at 2:02 pm
Going outside is a joy but seems to have its downsides. Your photos are beautiful. I have yet to try purple shampoo but if I do I’ll think of you. Partly as a cautionary tale, partly because you made me laugh out loud.
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May 29, 2020 at 5:01 pm
Glad I made you smile!
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May 29, 2020 at 2:29 pm
Lovely photos again and again! With a lovely tale to go with them.
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May 29, 2020 at 5:02 pm
Glad you enjoyed!! Always wish we lived closer to each other so we could go out with the cameras!
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May 29, 2020 at 10:09 pm
Glad you are tick free… and blondes have to use purple shampoo too sometimes.
I can’t leave without telling you the Lupines picture is phenomenal. And the shot going up the hill and you see the trees. Another favorite.
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May 30, 2020 at 12:11 pm
Glad you enjoyed the photos! It was a pretty night. I never heard of purple shampoo until I decided to let my hair go grey. I honestly can’t tell the difference when I use it or don’t use it. But I’m sure my hair person will if I ever get to see her again!
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May 30, 2020 at 6:06 am
Your lupine and tick adventure. My goodness, your sense of humor kills me!
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May 30, 2020 at 12:12 pm
Glad I can entertain! The lupine was beautiful, the ticks not so much.
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May 30, 2020 at 3:38 pm
Glad it was only shampoo. I’ve never had a tick on me yet. I’ve taken them off the dogs. Not sure what I’d do if one was on me. Uggh!
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May 30, 2020 at 4:20 pm
It is sort of creepy, but once you get it off you (I flushed both of them) you sort of feel like you need a shower. If you’ve taken them off dogs you’ll be fine getting them off of you.
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May 30, 2020 at 6:58 pm
You are scaring me so much!!! I cannot dismiss the question of ticks lightly. BIG paranoia….
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May 31, 2020 at 10:57 am
I think it’s going to be a difficult summer. I never got them on myself other than when I was in the Pigeon River Forest camping. Never just going to my local parks. So I think we need to be vigilant this year.
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May 31, 2020 at 11:25 am
Smiling! We do need a few smiles these days. Ticks are the scourge of our existence. That’s kinda a big exaggeration, but a little bit true. Both of us have been bit with tick attached. Barry twice, me once. This year–for the first time–they’re the little teeny deer ticks famous for lyme disease. We’re watching ourselves carefully for any reactions. Sometimes I am more afraid of lyme disease than Coronavirus. Loved your story.
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May 31, 2020 at 3:27 pm
It’s scary. The consequences of Lyme are pretty bad. Good idea to be careful.
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