Chapter 31

The last two days found me getting stung by two different wasps. The first one was not too bad, just a large mosquito size mark remains and it itches a bit. That one happened on the bicycle. The one yesterday though was a high speed connection while riding the motorcycle, that left the stinger in place and hurt like a mother. Still hurting like a mother! And all night the itching and burning was driving me crazy! Swelling is all the way back to my wrist and functionality is gonna be highly impaired at least for today.

Bee and wasps stings are a normal part of life, or at least a regular part of life in the deep South. When I was a kid, there were countless stings, and encounters with huge wasp nests, some terrifying runs across the farm as we tried to run away from the swarms. Today it is rare to run into really large nests, too many people and more aggressive nest destruction, than when I was a kid. Back then, if the nest wasn’t in a high traffic area, most people just ignored them and let them be until the winter came and you could remove the nest without fear of getting stung.

Getting stung is inevitable it seems, and treatment is debatable. When I was a kid, chewed tobacco was the favorite remedy to put on a sting. Benadryl probably is the favorite remedy today. Not sure one works any better than the other does. Mostly this is just a grin and bear it point in life. We all have them.