Chiggers Bite

I haven't gotten chigger bites since I was a kid, and didn't even think they would be a possibility when I spent most of Saturday afternoon, all of Saturday night, and a bit of Sunday morning outside in our friends' backyard for a barbecue. Mosquitoes usually leave me alone, so I didn't put on any of the bug spray that was being passed around. Now I wish I had put some on my ankles, as that apparently would stop the chigger larvae from crawling up my legs.

Now I have a dozen or more bites in irritating and somewhat delicate parts of my body. They don't itch as much today as they did yesterday, but I'm still dousing them with hydrocortisone cream and trying not to rub against them. This is hard when the chiggers have bitten you underneath your bra strap and right where your panties lay.

Damn you chiggers!

I may be going crazy, but I keep thinking there are new bites that weren't there before, even though I've showered and lathered several times since the bites showed up. Last night in bed I became convinced that there were chigger larvae in my sheets (which kept me up for awhile as I imagined tiny bugs crawling all over me). This is actually quite possible since in my tequilaed Saturday night state, I did still have some of my outdoor clothes on when I went to bed. Outdoor clothes that were possibly contaminated by chiggers.

So now I'm washing my sheets, our clothes from Saturday night, and anything that may have come in contact with them in some super hot water. Only time will tell if I have won the chigger war, but I'm guessing I might be smarter than a mite. I mite.