A few weeks ago, some friends and I went for a hike through the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Pawhuska, Okla. The hike was only a mile and a half, if that, so it wasn't anything too extreme; it was more of just a leisurely morning trot with friends to catch the sunrise and get some photos; however, it's because of this leisurely mindset that I experienced one of the grossest things of my life.
*Reader discretion is advised*
With Oklahoma summers come Oklahoma ticks and mosquitos. With ticks and mosquitos come bug bits, itches and in the extreme cases, weird diseases. In my case on this summer hike, I got the ticks, literally dozens of them. Now, because we went out for a 'leisurely' hike in the morning and because I'm not a mom, I didn't think to bring any sort of bug spray. It's just not in my 24-year-old nature to think of bringing along bug spray first and for most. My priorities tend to be more along the lines of 'will there be food, and if not, I need to bring some.' Anyway, long story long, I didn't get bug spray, so I got ticks.
Now, after the hike, my friends and I must have pulled off 20+ tickets among all of us, and after I got home and checked myself over in the privacy of closed doors, I even pulled a few more off me. After that inspection and a shower, I felt I was tick free and good to go . . . fast forward two weeks later:
I'd noticed that one of the places on my leg that I'd pulled a tick off of was still really red and really swollen and was only getting worse day by day. I was on beach trip with a couple of medical students when this flair up started happening, so I asked them about it. They said it definitely wasn't lime disease (blessings) and that I was probably just semi allergic to the tick bites and that the swelling would go down soon. They were right. Day by day after that, the swelling started to go down and the redness went away.
It was a few days after I'd gotten this good news from the med students that I woke up one morning, looked down at my leg and noticed the bite was completely healed except for a small scab that was left behind from what I assumed was my scratching. Like any normal human that likes picking scabs, I wanted the bite to be completely healed looking, so I picked the scab . . . and then it crawled away.
It wasn't a scab. It was a tick, and that little guy had been living in my leg for TWO WEEKS.
This was one of the most disgusting things to think about that had ever happened to me, and I was completely unaware of it. I was oblivious to the little stranger who lived with me for fourteen days; he probably could've stayed longer if he wanted, but I guess like all vacations, it got old, so he went home.
The lesson I learned from this long (disgusting) experience is pretty short and simple: We're not always aware of those around us who are really depending on us.
Like this tick was depending on me for food and shelter without me even realizing it, how many other people (or insects?) are depending on me for things that I'm completely unaware of? It's simple to get into the rhythm of life and not notice all that we're doing that others rely on. Maybe it's writing the checks to pay the bills or simply planning out a week's worth of meal prep. The truth is, the people closest to us are depending on us, and we're depending on them with so many things just to make life seem normal. It's not until those dependencies get taken away that we usually realize just how depending we really are and how much others are depending on us. In reality, we're all at least a little dependent, and because of that, we should all be at least a little thankful. Depend on others, just as they depend on you.
-Cliff
Cliff's Note: Don't forget the bug spray.