Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2013 19:04:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: Brad Page
Subject: Spiders, Chiggers and a cat
All the discussion of daddy long legs and chiggers brings this poem by Kobayashi Issa to mind:
Don’t worry, spiders
Don’t worry, spiders,
I keep house
casually.
My chigger carrier is a cat. This cat was born in a barn in Todd, NC a little town on the railroad grade road on the South Fork Of The New River.
He’s a long-haired tabby named Whiplash. He came by the name fair and square from the lady who gave him to me. As soon as his eyes opened and he managed to get around he decided to move into the her house. For the lady it was an issue because there were about 25 other cats out in that barn along with 6 goats and two dogs. Not everyone was welcome into the house but by six weeks he was lurking outside the back door and as soon as it opened he flew in and cut to the right, whipping the door jamb and anyone else with his tail. I won’t explain the obvious here. This tail is now about the size of one of those cobweb dusters you get at Lowes.
She decided I needed a cat. I didn’t care one way or the other. I carried him to my home at the NC Zen Center out here on Ironwood. For the next two or three months, through the winter and early spring, he took up residence on my chest or in my lap. When Whipper hit his kitty adolescence he decided I would do double duty as a scratching post/sparring partner. Given that I was on blood thinners at the time for a heart condition it was an untenable situation, as you can imagine.
A friend suggested I get another cat to take his edges off. Sasha came to me from the shelter. Whiplash has been sulking for 7 years and they never became buddies. She’s a beauty but she thinks I’m Godzilla or something. If I didn’t have FOOD stamped on my forehead in kitty talk she wouldn’t have a thing to do with me. She loves the neighbors barn where she hunts mice sometimes. Occasionally she shares one with me.
Anyway, Whiplash carries chiggers which he leaves in my lap or rubs off on my bare legs. During the summer we are not lap buddies. After the first freeze I don’t know what happens to the chiggers. Maybe NA Booko knows.. I know there are those who will scream and run around talking about Frontline. Living on Social Security doesn’t mix well with the expense of that elixir. If you’d like to send me a case I’ll be glad to relieve you of your burden.
That’s my chigger story. What’s yours?