A LARGER PERSPECTIVE ON MY TICK TRAUMA

April 30, 2026

So, what are ticks for? Answer: they both serve as food for other species, as well as work to “cull” other species.

Including humans? Yes. Of course. Just like all embodied creatures inside this 3D world, we exist to both serve ourselves and serve others. What’s crucial is the balance between them. In the natural world, experts can denote the “health” of an ecosystem by just how balanced it is, on all levels.

When I lived in Jackson Hole, there was a time when wolves were reintroduced to nearby Yellowstone, after having been hunted nearly to extinction. The result, an astonishing “trophic cascade.”

 

Increase species diversity, and the entire ecosystem becomes more sustainable.

At least that’s what supposed to happen. And does, when nature is left alone.

The concept of ‘diversity” however, for humans, the supposed top predator, has become both narrowly framed and weaponized, thanks to DEI, which fingers the lack of it as “politically incorrect.”

Meanwhile, conspiracy theorists opine that lyme disease was deliberately introduced via ticks on Plumb Island. In that case, rather like the covid “virus,” and the jab, conspiracy theorists also opine that it was introduced to cull humans.

I tend to agree with the second theory but not the first. But who knows? I sure don’t.

Meanwhile, going with the theme of this week’s Monday through Thursday posts, today I aim to take a “birds-eye” view of the situation, and invoke my permaculture training to remember just how interwoven into the web of life are all species, both obviously alive, and supposedly dead — though I cannot help but assume that consciousness, being an infinite field, both fills and fuels the universe, flowing through everything, even so-called “dead” rocks and planets. And that includes ticks!

So I’m busy this spring, figuring out the best way to work with this seemingly unprecedented situation, wherein ticks arrived early, and are flourishing, function to both feed and cull — and to terrify the hell out of me until I come to terms with them.

I want to include both my animals in my protocol, and not banish them because I fear what they “carry.” Did put the collar on Scampi yesterday. Unfortunate. Still assuming Tiger will take care of his own body, since he’s constantly grooming himself.

Meanwhile, I continue to rub a mixture of  healing clay moistened with anti-bacterial (“nature’s penicillin”) usnea tincture on the formerly tick-embedded area behind my left knee that is still reddened, but not so angry, and not nearly as swollen, with the outlook promising. Plus, I continue to take apis mellifica homeopathic three times a day. Those two things, especially, plus of course showers at night that include my entire body.

Oh yeah, and my bottle of

arrived yesterday, thanks to Amazon Prime.

BTW: A few days ago, I noticed another reddish somewhat swollen spot under my left arm, but it has no tick embedded, and I presume will recede on its own over time.

The point is, fear, FEAR, F.E.A.R. (False Evidence Appearing Real) is the killer. When I fear something, my entire biological system glitches into stress. Not good!

And given that as a child, I was chronically fearful, of nuclear war, I’m frankly surprised that I’m still here, still alive in this body at 83.

Likely the protocols I adopted early on, first walking long distances, then yoga, and later chi kung and tai chi,  formalized nearly 25 years ago into “two hours of physical culture a day,” (see detailed daily health routine) ignited the correction I needed to create balance, despite my chronically overheated PTSD’ed imagination that,

let’s face it

embrace it

erase it!

F.E.A.R. will always threaten to hijack.

 

Remember, Ann.

It’s either Fear or LOVE,

either contraction or expansion.

Them’s the choices.

Period.

 

 

TICK TRAUMA: Inside or Outside, they are all BUGS! So pay attention!

April 29, 2026

Ticks are really bad this year here in the Midwest. Already! Two months early!

And I have two animals, a small dog and an indoor/outdoor cat, who sleep with me.

(Am about to put the tick/flea collar on puppy Scampi, but dread what its side effects must do to him. Hoping Tiger kitty can take care of himself.)

Plus, today I recognized a tick bite on the back of one leg with the tick still embedded. I had ignored it for the first couple of days, not realizing that’s what it was. Looking back now, I realized I was delusional, thinking the Turkey Vulture drama was a blessing, when it may have been a warning! Especially the insect trying to get in my ear! A warning from Nature, about another insect in Nature? Instructing me to pay attention?)

See Monday and Tuesday posts, this week.

I have been making sure I took a shower every evening, and washed hair each time, just in case. But clearly, that wasn’t enough.

This morning, increasing discomfort instructed me to look at the sore spot directly. Oops. Dug out a tiny tick from the center of the very red swollen area (about an inch wide). Checked grok ai for any recent info, and got out a bunch of my old remedies (some from decades ago, unfortunately), and am applying them. Will go to store for more recent remedies later this afternoon. Plus taking a homeopathic. And have ordered a six-months supply of an immune formula specific for ticks to prevent disease (assuming the tiny ones will bite me over and over again this year.)

It’s strange. I’ve long poo-pooed internal “bugs” that “cause” dis-ease, figuring if I support my immune system I’ll be fine. And I have been. The covid era left me entirely unscathed.

But, here in the Midwest, for the last 23 years I have been utterly freaked out about external bugs! Back in Jackson Hole Wyoming, we did have one large tick species; but mostly went on alert when out hiking to possible presence of large animals (bears, wolves, bison, moose, etc.). Respected all of them; gave them all a wide birth.

But how can we give a wide birth to something we may not even see, it’s so tiny! And it may lodge somewhere on the back of our body, where, when we live alone, we can’t see it!

Clearly, I need to upgrade some of my present protocols.