We are infested....

With what, you may ask. Well, fleas. And chiggers. And mice. The mice and chiggers not so much as the fleas. And when I say "we" I mean Smudge and myself. Joseph doesn't seem to get bit. We have not resorted to full-on chemicals yet, although some moments I feel we have no other option. If I counted the number of bites (i.e. quarter-sized welts) on my body, I probably have at least 30 from head-to-foot. Joseph ran into a woman at the vet the other day. She was talking to the front desk secretary about she puts Frontline on herself to keep the fleas off. At the time, we thought she was joking(a bit of a loony they say!) But, now the idea doesn't sound so bad. At this point, I would do almost anything. I feel them jump onto my ankles and hang on for the ride as though they have grappling hooks. They tickle, sort of.

Smudge is miserable. She is constantly itching, grooming, running, and sometimes hiding from the fleas. Frontline does not work on her anymore. I have spoken with co-workers and Frontline has stopped working on their animals also. I think the huge flea infestation has to do with the drought. We gave her a bath.



It has rained for three days straight (no joke). I told Joseph that I could not handle living in Seattle. I would rather go through a whole Minnesota winter than go through a week straight of rain. We needed it, desperately. I think the whole state has been praying and probably performing their own version of a rain dance. However, it has done little to bring us back from the brinks of permanently dry lakes and reservoirs. Some areas only have 30 days of water left. In the Raleigh area, we need 8ft of rain to refill the reservoir and bring us back to non-drought conditions. Nobody is allowed to water their lawns (has been this way for almost three months). Nobody gets a bye. Garden centers have struggled. Processing plants have shut down. People have lost their jobs. It's frightening.