Aren't these daisies sweet? Wouldn't you be tempted to stop and perhaps pick a few? Do you travel around with a pair of garden shears, a bucket and bottled water just in case you happen upon something you might want to snip? Well, take my advice…be careful. Not just because of trespassing laws but because one step out of the car on a sultry summer day onto the side of the road and you will be taking home more than daisies. I'm talking about chiggers.
Not long ago a good friend of mine arrived at a dinner party with her ankles speckled in bright pinknail polish. We all merrily took in the significance of this sight. She had chigger bites, and obviously not a bottle of clear fingernail polish to her name, which everyone down here knows is the best remedy for a chigger bite. We laughed when we saw her and complimented her on choosing a color that went with her outfit.
You know, being Southern has some wonderful aspects to it.
I am thinking about chiggers this morning. Probably as a direct result of having at last count, about 30 of them. They are as Southern as mosquitoes but in my book, definitely worse. Mosquitoes you can see and have a chance to swat. Chiggers you only feel after the fact. And where you feel them is the worst part. Unlike other biting insects that go for arms and legs, chiggers prefer those choice parts of the anatomy that are, shall we say, 'delicate', which makes scratching a whole other issue. The tried and true remedy down here is to paint the bite over with clear polish. The great gift of the cosmetic industry has not been lipstick in the South, it has been fingernail polish. Nothing is more effective and quick to smother out the bite. Who figured that one out? I am thinking Revlon's advertising executives were not envisioning the additional benefits of chigger bite control when they were marketing 'Love that Red' .
There are a lot of things in life that cause itching. Have you ever noticed with a number of ailments the itching stage signals the worst part is usually over? Healing stitches, bee stings, skinned knees with scabs (doesn't that word sound just like what it is?) all start us scratching in the last stages of recovery. It signals a change in the status quo. I guess that is how some of our expressions like 'itching to go' or 'scratch that itch' could have originated. They were a way of addressing the restlessness of life. Just as the body is moving towards healing, we get to places where we are ready to move along ourselves in our lives.
Can you believe I got to this starting with chiggers? Neither can I, but I'm going to run with it, so read on.
Life is full of biters and there are all kinds of itches. Sometimes I think this and other essential truths need to be written down and attached to people shortly after birth for future reference. Haven't we all met the individuals who think they should always be exempt? Also, some itches probably don't need to be scratched, but soothed. We know some of those types too, who react impulsively instead of with a bit more forethought. None of us are totally exempt from that one either. At the time it feels fabulous, but with reflection, we see it wasn't such a good idea. Instant gratification does have drawbacks and a short life. (another one to attach). Still there are those times when we feel an unexplainable restlessness about life, an itchiness, about the way things are going, that serves us well. It becomes the early urgings of change and can motivate us to make choices and decisions. It seems to be an indicator an opportunity for growth is at hand. The expressions 'mid-life crisis', 'seven-year itch', 'itching for a fight' all have within them elements of the psyche's call for growth. We see the daisies and they are something we really want but are not quite sure we will let ourselves have. Is it worth the chiggers?
Just to make sure I've exhausted the chigger metaphor, I am wondering if the hardest itchiness to handle is the kind most like chigger bites. It is the restlessness that occurs in the personal and intimate aspects of our lives. Growth and change in our deepest held beliefs have the potential to profoundly change the way we live our lives. And even when we spray ourselves to near toxic levels, tie down our pants legs and tighten our cuffs, we cannot assure our immunity. Those little biters still manage to get to us. Maybe when that happens, when we are trying our hardest not to scratch, and are digging around for the polish, we might also think about just how beautiful those daisies truly are.
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