OF FISHING AND REMOVING TICKS

June is already here and I still haven't purchased a fishing license. I vowed this was to be the summer that I get a lot more small mouth bass fishing done -- I had planned on getting my good pal Tom Johnson up here for a two day float trip by canoe down the mighty Jump River.

I have a great camping site about half way between the "put in" bridge" and the "take out" bridge and it would do my soul so much good to get out on the water and just soak in the smells, sights, and sounds of the river. If you have never camped out overnight on a river somewhere then you have missed out! Food tastes so damn good when you have been breathing in the fresh air all day, paddling down river, and have built a decent cooking fire, pitched the two man tent under the cedars in the soft needle bed.

Unfortunately, Tom has taken off for Virginia and New York City for a couple of weeks, so I will have to put it off for now.

Looking forward to June 9 as I will be joining friends Wil Denson and Doug Cox for an evening of Cavalier baseball at good old Carson Park. Ah! Cold Leinenkugels beer and a couple of hot dogs to accompany the crack of the bat.

Just received an e mail from an old army buddy of mine, Jerry Holubets, on the removal of wood ticks. It is worth sharing.

(A school nurse has written the info below -- good enough to s hare.)



I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way
to remove a tick. This is great, because it works in those places where it's
sometimes difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle
of a head full of dark hair, etc.



Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick w ith the

soap-soaked cotton ball and let it stay on the repulsive insect for a

few seconds (15-20), after which the tick will come out on its
own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away.



This technique has worked every time I've used it (and that is

frequently), and it's much less traumatic for the patient and easier for

mom. Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can't see that this would be

damaging in any way. I even had my doctor's wife call me for advice

because she had one stuck to her back and couldn't reach it with

tweezers. She used this method and almost immediately called me back to

say, 'It worked!'

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