Deer and bunnies and redwing blackbirds, lush green grass and huge campsites, trees and terrific hikes and an enormous lake nearby… of the four Ohio state parks where I’ve camped, Maumee Bay, near Toledo, is by far the nicest. I could happily stay here for weeks, I think.
The one negative is the bugs. There are tons of them. I try to remind myself that bugs are a symbol of a healthy eco-system and no bugs would mean no redwing blackbirds, but still… not a bug fan.
And alas, one of the bug problems turns out to be a problem that it’s too late to worry about, at least to some extent. There were warning notices at the front desk about ehrlichiosis — a tick-borne disease — and how to avoid getting it and what symptoms to watch for. Unfortunately, Zelda was diagnosed with the disease an hour earlier at the vet. So I guess I can worry about catching it myself, but I don’t have to worry about Zelda getting it. She’s on antibiotics and I’m trying not to obsess too much. Or to think that if I’d never moved into a van, never started traveling, she would never have encountered whatever tick made her sick. Those thoughts are not useful thoughts.
Tomorrow I’m headed to Michigan. Still not done with Grace — I’ve spent hours and hours of writing time on a single page in the past week. I thought I knew how something ended — thought I knew it for a long, long time — but when it came down to it, it just didn’t work the way I wanted it to. Or I couldn’t make it work the way I wanted it to. But I think today I finally let go of that section and moved on.
And now I’ll do the same with this blog post. 🙂
Edited to add: At the vet’s office, Zelda was the third Zelda they’d seen in two days, but the other two were both, “Zelda, Princess of Hyrule.” I heard that and said (of course), “But my Zelda is the Princess of Hyrule!” She was, in fact, named after Zelda, Princess of Hyrule, I just never used the full name. But I’m totally adding it now.
tehachap said:
Oh my word… never heard of that disease. And I really hate bugs — especially mosquitoes, chiggers and fleas because the literally love me to death! I have a very difficult time with the itching. That park just looks heavenly. Great find… And you know, you could think that if you hadn’t bought Serenity and hadn’t gone on the road, and … but if it wasn’t Z getting that tick disease, it would have been something different — it’s all part of life and life’s challenges. So sorry Z is ill, but thankfully you were able to get her diagnosed and have her on meds so she should be good as gold soon. Take care… be safe!
Judy, Judy, Judy said:
Yeah not a big fan. It’s funny because spiders don’t bother me but bugs…