Recently - as the weather warmed up - I had an unsettling experience.   

 

I was walking with Tucker and suddenly we got into a literal tick nest - from one minute to the next - in tall grass - I looked down and Tucker had about 30 ticks crawling all over him -  and a dozen ticks were all over my pant legs.  

 

I freaked and the adrenaline was pumping.   

 

I got Tucker out into the middle of a parking lot and started pulling the ticks off of him and off of me.  

 

Then I put him in the car and went to another dog walk location where there was less of a chance that there were deer - where the deer go there are ticks.  

 

I kept feeling little twinges under my pants and shirt so I opened the car side doors for "privacy" dropped trow and pulled my pant legs inside out.

 

That's when my phone fell  out under the car.    I heard it fall but thought I should get dressed first - so I wasn't reported as a looney or perv - before I crawled under the car after my phone.  

 

Then someone came by and I was distracted... 

 

Lucky I didn't squash the phone when I drove away.  

 

Christ, ticks are going to take their toll on me.  

 

All across the Cape there are lime green ribbons tied to the bushes and trees - like the yellow ribbons for solders - the Cape is under Lyme Disease panic.    Folks have beautiful homes and they are afraid to go outside.   Big problem.  

 

Stay outta tall grass,   tick town is no tall tale.

 

I was lucky - later that evening I found only one tick on me - on the nape of my neck - not yet attached. 

 

And then I got an email from an out of state friend whose contact phone number was in my phone.   

 

Another dog walker had spotted my phone on the asphalt in the parking lot where I had conducted my inside-out pants inspection - the dog walker called the contact - explained a phone had been found - I still had not realized it was missing.   I got the dog walker's telephone number in my contact's email and arranged to pick up my phone the next day.    

 

So the moral of this story is - sometimes it takes ticks to see the civilized side of our society.   

 

Taking the effort to return something to someone who has lost the something is very decent. 

 

Thank you to that other dog walker!