stoopbeck

So guess what I got to do TODAY?!

I got stung by a caterpillar. Not just any caterpillar, but as far as we can figure, a saddleback caterpillar. Those things HURT. I'm almost convinced that I have bad pinky karma, because in the last week I've sliced my left pinky and I've been ant-bit and now caterpillar-stung on the right.

I was trimming ivy. I reached under a tendril of it to cut some leaves away from the post, and when I pulled my hand back, I brushed against something. Turns out it was a caterpillar.

It hurt, I'll just share that tidbit with you. A lot. More of an acidic burn than anything else. And I couldn't remember what you were supposed to do for caterpillar stings, so I went wandering around the 70-odd acres of garden, trying to find Mom, failing miserably. My one thought-- "If I start bawling now, I'll never live it down. EVAR." So I wandered about, stiff upper lip and all that, for about fifteen minutes. There was a noticable lack of Mom around.

Finally went to her office, and jotted down a quick note, something along the lines of "Got stung by unknown caterpillar. It hurts. A lot. Couldn't find you. If you get this, I'll be in the garden trimming ivy." Luckily, she came in at that point and doused my hand with ammonia, and provided me with tape to get the stickers out, and gave me pain-reducing ointment.

Then the boys came in and implied I was a baby and that I didn't work as hard as them. Righto! Who spent the whole morning standing around staring at a broken mower? Mmm hmm. And who worked her butt off in a sweltering garden all morning? Okay then.

Now all the swelling's gone down, and I just have some vague and tiny bruise marks. All I can say is caterpillar, watch out. I see you again, you be dead. DEED.