Last Thursday Walker & I headed to Montgomery to watch the last Fain child graduate from Trinity. Yay Jack!
Friday morning we headed down to the beach for the Memorial Day weekend. The beach does wonders to de-stress life, and despite threatening weather reports, we actually had lots of sun. The house and beach were both dog friendly, so little Bella got to have her first taste of sand and surf. To say she enjoyed herself would be an understatement.
The house...
Racing Walker (he lost)...
Loving it...
Our regal-looking beach dog...
Post-sand-rinsing...
Had I written this post Sunday afternoon, this is where the story would have ended. But alas, there is more to tell. Late Sunday afternoon as I sat on the beautiful porch reading (A Thousand Splendid Suns - a fantastic book if you have not read it!), I noticed several large, fly-like insects buzzing around. They kept landing on my legs and feet and had quite a little sting to them, but I thought, "how much damage can a fly bite really do?", and kept on enjoying the last bit of sunshine at the beach. As it turns out, this was a grave mistake. Late Sunday night and all day Monday the bites began to swell. I stayed in Montgomery on Monday night, and after looking at the bites and hearing my description of the bugs, my beach-native mom promptly made the diagnosis: yellow fly bites. I turned to the internet and learned that these horrific little creatures come out in northwest FL during the months of May and June, and pack quite a punch. Several rounds of sleep-inducing Benadryl and half a tube of hydrocortisone later, I am still miserable and swollen. I have counted 29 bites, although some on my legs have swollen together so I'm not sure how accurate my count is. How does it feel? Like poison ivy on steroids.
Entomology lesson #1: if you are ever in a similar situation, trying to soak up the last little bit of the beach that you can, and you see this
buzzing around you, run as fast as your little legs can carry you back inside and stay there. It's just not worth it!
