Rats!

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The guest room at my parents’ Carrollton TX house and is near the kitchen – and there were a couple of instances of odd noises during the night during my last visit. One morning when I went into the kitchen, the flour canister had pieces of brown plastics around it (remnants of the lid’s seal which was not entirely breached but was almost gnawed off). I trashed the canister and bits of plastic….scrubbed my hands with soap and water….wiped down the counter with disinfectant several times during the day…acknowledged that there were RATS in the house.

Later I saw one near the baseboard of the cabinet below where the canister was. It ran into my Dad’s office. We pulled a set of plastic drawers out from the wall…and there were rat droppings behind it.

Aargh! I coordinated with my sisters to get a specialist out to assess the situation further after I read through the CDC’s recommendations for how to clean up a rat infestation safely.

One of my sisters had worked with a ‘critter control’ company previously and they came out soon after she contacted them. It turns out that the rats are everywhere in the attic. The company has a process to treat and remove the insulation…replace it. Treat the rooms in the lower part of the house and put traps outside the house…seal places the rats were getting in. They dispose of the material they remove. They can do it in one day if the weather cooperates. And there is a 10-year warranty. We set the date for them to do the work.

We’ve cleared the papers and books from my dad’s office, bought the paint to match the external house trim that will have sealed places, and planned for my parents to be elsewhere for that day. It is happening this week.

I am relieved that it is happening quickly. It is traumatic for my parents to have the flurry of activity to clear out of my dad’s office and then to have a long day away from home….but the health and safety risk from rats in the house is so great that they and our whole family agrees it has to be done. I’ll be back in Carrollton for the aftermath and trying to get my parents routine re-established.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 10, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Circadian rhythm disruption found to be common among mental health disorders – A lot of research challenges…therapeutic potential.

Striking Winners of the 2022 Black and White Photo Awards – Perhaps I’ll try a B/W photography project…

Global Survey: Climate Change is the Top Threat – Finally….more people are beginning in realize the peril of doing nothing.

Industrial Revolution Reversed 7,000-Year Cooling Trend in Siberia, Bringing Temperatures to Unprecedented Highs – Another aspect of climate change…that threatens to unleash more greenhouse gases…spurring further warming.

Wooden canoe burial discovered in Northern Patagonia – From 850-1,000 years ago….a woman buried in a ceremonial canoe made from a Chilean cedar.

Photographer gets rare glimpse of British Columbia’s Spirit Bear – The black bears with a mutation that blocks the production of melanin…and makes them less visible to salmon (i.e. they catch the fish more effectively than the bears that are black!).

Feeling anxious or blue? Ultra-processed foods may be to blame – A study with over 10 thousand participants. Learn more about the NOVA food classification system used in the study here.

In the field with wolverines – Interesting animals that live in northern areas around the world…only about 300 of them in the lower 48 of the US (in Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming).

First sighting of massive Atlas moth confirmed (in Seattle) – The Atlas moth is from tropical Asia. The conservatory-based butterfly exhibit I volunteered with for several years (in Maryland) included them occasionally; they were contained in the facility following the permit requirements. Hopefully the one in Seattle didn’t find a mate. Their caterpillars would feast on leaves of apple and cherry trees.

These Early Entries From the 2022 Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards Are a Hoot – Ending the gleanings list with some fun images.

Town Planning in 1909

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Raymond Unwin’s 1909 Town planning in practice: an introduction to the art of designing cities and suburbs is available in Internet Archive…a snapshot of the ideas of period with illustrations of examples. The illustrations I found most interesting were town/city plans. The ones from Moscow and the excavated part of Pompeii are the two samples I picked from the book.

Of course – a lot has changed in all the places shown in the book in the years since it was published but there are anchors in the built environment that are still around….sometimes perturbing modernization efforts and making infrastructure improvement more challenging. And there are some concepts that are still very much in evidence in modern cities – like ring roads (interstates) that surround all our major cities!

Kittens! – Month 1

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The first month with our 3 kittens has been full of small adventures for the whole household. They quickly got comfortable outside their sequestered area. Sometimes they were quiet enough for us to take pictures.

When I started packing for my trip to Carrollton, one of them decided one of the bags was a good perch….and he didn’t want to vacate.

While I was gone, my husband experimented with them out of their room during the night. The first night was OK but the second one they wanted to play most of the night. So - we’ve reverted to enticing them into their room with a late night snack.

The kittens like my husband’s office. They sometimes attempt to take over his keyboard and monitors. He has tried putting towels and boxes over the electrical cables on the floor to discourage their biting on the cables….they prefer the towels for naps. They still get into the extra office chair, but it will soon be too small to hold all three at once.

Puma discovered the receipt bin and Pooky joined him…tussle ensued. Typical behavior when they meet anywhere in the house.

The kittens have broken two glass coasters as they race around the house and over/under end tables. One end table fell over sending a coaster flying and another was swept clean when the racing kittens used it as part of the route through the den…another coaster flew and shattered. I’ve put the remaining glass coasters away and we are using unbreakable coasters.

It is now impossible to keep them off the kitchen counters completely. I made a small bouquet with items from the yard. The roses and crepe myrtle are still in place, but the wavy grass seed heads are bent and scattered. Maybe they looked too much like a toy to the kittens.

Overall – it’s been an eventful month and we are anticipating continued kitten adventures.

Previous Kittens! Posts: day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, week 1, week 2

Settling in, developing new routines – 3rd month

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It seems like the “settling in” picked up speed during this third month…the things we are doing now are the ones most important to making this place the home we want.

Kittens. Getting three kittens was a milestone for us. We had been without a cat since mid-January; even though we missed having a pet, we also realized it would be easier to make the long distance move without one. Once we were here, we waited until we had the house unpacked enough to be safe for kittens. And so – now we have 3 kittens (siblings) that are keeping us busy tweaking their environment to be safe for them…and not have too much damage to the furniture, drapery, etc. Having kittens will limit the travel we do together through the end of the year…but they provide an abundance of entertainment to make up for it.

Travel. I will be in Texas one week of each month to help enable my parents to remain independent in their own home….and celebrate their 70th anniversary in December. It’s not quite a routine yet but getting close; the way I handle laundry and snacks for the road and packing is becoming more consistent every month! And my husband is keeping busy with the kittens and visits from my daughter.

Birdfeeder. We now have 2 bird feeders….both visible from my office window. The one that seems to be the most popular is on a pole with our three holly trees around it. The birds seem to feel very secure coming there. The screen from the window blew off during a storm (I simply picked up and put it in the storage area of the basement)….so I can usually photograph the birdfeeder and bath through the window. I plan to clean the window frequently and enjoy the birds!

Yard. What a difference a month makes. The rains have been more consistent, and we’ve been able to reduce the frequency our sprinkler system comes on. Learning how to winterize the system is ahead of us…but not until we get closer to freezing temperatures. I am making plans to mow the yard (electric mower) probably beginning at the end of this season so I can enlarge the beds for shrubs, bulbs, and perennials in the back yard. I’d like to get bulbs planted this fall.  

State parks. We are starting a project to visit local and state parks. I’ve got a map showing all the parks within a 100-mile radius. They’ll make for some great day trips!

Previous ‘settling in’ posts: 1st month, 2nd month

Carrollton Yard – August 2022 (2)

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My mother is maintaining her practice of cutting flowers in her garden to bring inside. In August there were two types of lilies! The naked lady lilies were beginning to fade but she had one of the last stalks for her arrangement. The shorter and darker pink fairly lilies were added for the lower tier.

The naked lady lilies have green foliage in the early summer then die back…sending up stalks with blooms in late summer. Each stalk has multiple blooms. The pink blooms lighten as they age. Most of the stalks were done by the time I arrived in August.

The fairy lilies have one bloom per stalk and stay a darker pink. They seem to bloom after a burst of moisture and were at their best after the August rains in Carrollton, Texas.

The garden has luxuriant borders of chives, and they are getting ready to bloom. I suspect that by the time I am back in September, there will be seeds forming! Maybe I’ll collect some to start some chive boarders of my own in Missouri!

Carrollton Yard – August 2022 (1)

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The August temperature was not quite as hot…and a lot wetter. The Carrollton, Texas yard was looking better. I went out in the mornings while the temperature was still pleasant to pull weeds and capture images of the morning. One of the big trees visible in the distance (not far from the big power lines) still had some damage from the earlier very hot and dry weather but the damaged parts almost glowed in the light of the morning.

In the yard itself…I enjoyed using my phone for macro photography. I took the first series the morning after a ran when there was plenty of water still on the plants.

After that – the flowers were dry in the morning.

I enjoyed both the flowers and buds of the morning glory.

Tomorrow’s Carrollton yard post: two kinds of lilies and blooming chives…

Zentangle® – August 2022

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31 days in August – and 31 tiles selected for this post! There are more since two of the ‘tiles’ are mosaics of 6 triangular tiles!

There is a little skew toward rectangular tiles this month. All of them were made at home in Missouri. I tend to enjoy the slightly larger format. I have a green paint pen that I use to fill some of the larger areas. I’ve been thinking about the trends in the tiles I am making now. There is joy is not preplanning too much…just starting out and letting the tile emerge from the string or a simple initial pattern…enjoying the color application is much as the drawing!

Many of the square tiles were made in Carrollton…enjoying the leftover gel pens from my sister’s teaching career. I deplete a few more every time I am in Carrollton.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. “Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 3, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Pregnant women are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals in dishware, hair coloring, plastics, and pesticides, study reveals – Something else for pregnant people to be anxious about. I wish these studies had a stronger component about how to reduce exposure, but it seems that the problematic chemicals are very pervasive.

The U.S. diet is deadly. Here are 7 ideas to get Americans eating healthier – These ideas a geared to making it easier for individuals to make healthier choices. Right now…it seems that the push is toward unhealthy food choices.

Cool planning for a hotter future – Actions we need to take to achieve the ‘late century rapid action’ maps.

Low physical function after age 65 associated with future cardiovascular disease – Individuals were assessed for walking speed, leg strength, and balance….and the scores were more predictive of cardiovascular disease risk than the traditional risk factors that work for middle-aged people (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking or diabetes).

On “Trash” Birds: Rethinking How We Label Common Species – There is no such thing as a ‘trash’ bird or any species. They are all just part of our world!

Can These Lights Make Crosswalks Safer for Pedestrians Distracted by Their Phones? – People shouldn’t be walking while looking at their cell phones more than where they are headed….but they do and maybe Hong Kong is ahead of us in developing a solution to reduce tragedies.

Is Breadfruit the Climate Change-Proof Food of the Future? – Not a food I know anything about…it’s not in our grocery stores yet. I looked at some recipes and it seems like it would be a versatile addition to our diet.

Archaeologists Call on UNESCO to Protect the Hagia Sophia – It’s sad when pieces of architectural history are not maintained. Hopefully this call will help organize what is needed to preserve Hagia Sophia.

Heat waves + air pollution can be a deadly combination: The health risk together is worse than either alone – There are ways to stay safe…but it is not possible for everyone all the time. We need to address the underlying issues for the health of everyone. Often – addressing air pollution also is step in a good direction of climate change as well.

See the Incredible Sunflower Superbloom in North Dakota – Wow! Maybe a trip to North Dakota some July/August should be added to our list of road trips we want to make.

eBotanical Prints – August 2022

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20 botanical print books in August. My favorite book this month is the one about tree silhouettes! I will continue to browse Flora Costaricensis series in September.  

The whole list of 2,452 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the August 2022 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the August 2022 eBotanical Prints!

The Plant World Vol IX 1906 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1906

The Plant World Vol X 1907 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1907

The Plant World Vol XI 1908 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1908

The Plant World Vol XIII 1910 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1910

The Plant World Vol XIV 1911 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1911

How to draw & ink trees & shrubs in silhouette * Ehrlich, Frederic * sample image * 1931

The Plant World Vol XV 1912 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1912

The Plant World Vol XVII 1914 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1914

The Plant World Vol XVII 1915 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1915

The Plant World Vol XIX 1916 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1916

Flora Costaricensis No. 13 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1983

Flora Costaricensis No. 23 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1990

Flora Costaricensis No. 28 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1991

Flora Costaricensis No. 33 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1993

Flora Costaricensis No. 35 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1971

Flora Costaricensis No. 36 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1995

Flora Costaricensis No. 40 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1977

Flora Costaricensis No. 40 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1999

Flora Costaricensis No. 41 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 2000

Flora Costaricensis No. 45 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 2005

Ten Little Celebrations – August 2022

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The celebrations I noted in August 2022 are part of the continuum of transition to Missouri – our new home.

A neat garage. I celebrated how organized our garage looked after we set up the bunk bed frame for all the camping gear! Sometimes a quick and simple task can have a bigger impact than expected on our perception of place.

A rainy morning. It was a relief – and celebration - when we finally got some summer rain. The August temperatures have also been a little cooler than in July….and our grass has turned green again.

Roadtrip home. I celebrated my shortest time ever for the drive from Carrollton to Nixa. It was a Sunday so traffic was light…and the weather was dry.

Finding boxes of Atkins shakes. My husband only likes one flavor of Atkins shakes and I’d been challenged to find them in prior grocery shopping weeks…and then there were two on the shelf at Walmart! I celebrated (and put both of them in my cart).

Sooty, Pooky, and Puma. Celebrating new pets. Their antics are fun to watch…they demand interaction…challenge us to make small modifications to our household routine for their safety.  

Kittens napping. After times of high kitten activity (with 3 of them there are frequent chases, tussles, and a general tendancy to move small toys everywhere in the house), we celebrate some quiet time when all three are napping.

Mango chicken salad. I selected something new from the menu my daughter was ordering from….and celebrated the result!

Spider bite not infected. I went to Urgent Care with a bug bite different than I had ever experienced (painful and it looked different). They identified it as a probable spider bite and cautioned me that it might get worse before it got better. I got a tetanus shot and perscription strength topical antibiotic…celebrated that they said it did not look infected (and it never got infected although it is taking several weeks to heal).

Taking pictures through my office window. I like taking pictures through my office windows. A storm blew off one of the screens…and I’ve left it off. I haven’t taken many pictures through the window yet…but I am celebrating that I now have the physical setup to do it. I’ve seen chickadees and finches on the bird bath about 4 feet from where I sit….and a hummingbird investicated a plant nearby.

Coursera anatomy course. I celebrated completing another anatomy course (Anatomy of the chest, neck, and abdomen) from Yale on Coursera. Every module was well presented and interesting.

Unique Aspects of Days – August 2022

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Most of the uniqueness in August was associated with our move to Missouri….although not as directly as back in July.

A juvenile grackle on our bird feeder. We had gackles under our feeder in Maryland too but they must not have nested nearby because I didn’t ever see a juvenile. They are smart birds and don’t seem to be as noisy around our house as the ones I see at the Josey Ranch Lake in Carrollton TX….maybe because there are not as many of them.

3 kittens. It’s been almost 40 years since we had a kitten in our house…and it was only one back then. 3 of them make for many unique experiences…usually positive.


Did not want a breakfast burrito. A McDonalds breakfast burrito has been my favorite mid-morning snack on driving days…but recently, it just did not appeal to me at all. Glad I realized how I was feeling before I made the purchase!

First time to vote in Missouri. The primary was in early August. We had registered but didn’t yet have our permanent driver’s license…fortunately the paper copy was sufficient. The polling place was convenient and not crowded. Evidently it was a new polling place.

Setting up a compost ring. I used some cedar edging with prongs that pushed into the soil to keep them in place. I was pleased with the way it looked on the first day and even more pleased with how fast the compost is ‘cooking.’

Urgent care for spider bite. I had never gotten a spider bite….wasn’t sure that it was a spider bite (since I didn’t see the spider). It seemed to be getting worse so I went to Urgent Care on the 3rd day. They said it was a spider bite…gave me a tetanus shot…topical antibiotic…instructions to come back if a list of symptoms developed. Fortunately none of the dire symptoms happened but it is taking considerable time to heal.

Ice pack on spider bite helped. The spider bite on the back of my calf caused considerable pain which was a new experience…as was the relief of 10 minutes with an ice pack!

Puddles and cruise control. It was a little scary to drive through a puddle…and have my cruise control turn off. It wasn’t raining very hard at the time but evidently the water had accumulated enough to slow the car too suddenly and a safety mechanism engaged.

Rat trying to get into flour canister. Definitely a unique experience I would prefer had not happened. I went into my parents’ kitchen one morning and found bits of brown plastic all around a metal canister. The plastic has been the seal on the canister which the rat chewed partially through….but not completely.

Using  the self-scan in a Missouri grocery store for the 1st time. They haven’t been doing it as long as my store in Maryland so there are a few kinks…but not too bad.

Kittens! – week 2

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Two weeks of kittens…their antics are entertaining and, sometimes, worrying.

They have an affinity for anything like a cable or cord. Sometimes they just bat the ‘snake’ with their paws but other times they try to bite/chew or tangle themselves…which could be damaging and even tragic with electrical cables. So – my husband has covered the cables in his office with beach towels or big pieces of cardboard. It has worked reasonably well so far…the cats seem to enjoy sleeping on the cord coverings even more than the desk chair (like day 3 and 5).

One morning I noticed that all the pillows that had been on the window seat in our breakfast area were on the floor. I’d thought the cats would enjoy looking out the window there and seen them on the pillows previously…but not seen any behavior that would have resulted in the pillows being pushed off. Then – I noticed Sooty playing with the pulls of the blinds. She was having great fun…jumping and pouncing to catch the fob on the end of the cords. So – I tucked the cord/fob into the top of the blind…and the pillows have stayed in place since.

We are still sequestering the kittens in their room/bathroom at night. They are enticed in with a last meal of the day in the bathroom. One night my husband started the process at the usual time, but the kittens were playing a lot; he got them back and enjoying their meal…closed the door. And a few minutes later they were making little meows still wanting the run of the house. Since then, he has waited until they are quiet and then provided their last meal of the day….and they are OK with being in their room.

Previous Kittens! Posts: day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, week 1

After Rain

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We are finally getting some rain in our area of Missouri and our yard is green again. I went outside shortly after one of the rain showers and discovered the rose bush was full of water droplets – like jewels on the leaves and flowers. Sometimes that align with the edges or ridges of the plant but there was so much water that the beads sometimes were on any surface that would hold them! One of the flowers was acting like a bowl to hold the water and reminded me that some frogs in rain forests lay eggs in the bowls of water in bromeliads.

Other plants also were very wet and holding beads of water although the droplets seems smaller than the ones on the roses…and I noticed we have a lot of spider webs!

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 27, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

We asked children how they experienced poverty. Here are 6 changed needed now – This was a study done in Australia. I wonder how applicable these findings are around the world.

The identical twins who discovered their secret sibling – An adoption agency that separated twins for adoption in the 1960s…and the researchers that were part of that process. Fast forward to 2022.

Heat wave reveals 17th-century English gardens – Longleat Gardens….a whisper of the past…from before the transition to natural parkland in the 18th century.

Is this the end of DC’s most-beloved hidden landmark? – I’ve never seen (or known about) the Capitol stones in Rock Creek Park but I’ve noticed the old columns dating from the same period that are in the National Arboretum. They are certainly a landmark!

Painted Bunting: The Fun of Local Bird Quests – I remember seeing some painted buntings at a Florida National Wildlife refuge and an indigo bunting under my bird feeder in Maryland. They are special birds!

Colorful solar panels could make the technology more attractive – Color is a lower priority than efficiency for me, but it could be very important in some applications.

A Beginner’s Guide to Butterfly Watching – I wish there were more butterflies to watch! It seems like every year there are fewer of them around.

Taming Tomorrow’s Wildfires – There is a wildfire burning somewhere in the US all the time recently. It’s important that we make changes to reduce their devastation.

New drug candidate fights off more than 300 drug-resistant bacteria – Antibiotics have been around for my whole life…but there is always the discomfort that more bacteria are becoming resistant…and there could come a time that the pre-antibiotic killers will beginning killing people again. I’m glad there are new drugs in development to take up the fight.

Olmec contortionist Reliefs Uncovered in Mexico – Artifacts from a civilization known for colossal head sculptures….hints of their culture.

Macdougall Illustrations

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William Brown Macdougall was a Scottish book illustrator. I’ve browsed 5 books on Internet Archive that he illustrated. The last three on the list were authored by his wife, Margaret Armour. These are easy books to browse….enjoy Macdougall’s illustrations…and the snapshot it represents of art history.  

Through my Office Window – August 2022

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I am enjoying the office windows not having screens. It’s much easier to take pictures! The view from the sitting area in my office includes hollies, a bird bath, a rhododendron, and, if I look a little more to the left, a bird feeder.

After a rain I photographed some drops of water on one of the plants right outside the window…and the drops have reflections of the leaves!

More birds have discovered the bird bath recently. The most numerous birds I see there are the female and juvenile finches.

The doves and squirrel often share the shady place under the hollies in the hot afternoons.

I noticed a scruffy looking male cardinal that seemed to be displaying with his tail spread out and feathers fluffed…or maybe the behavior was just part of molting. The bird was under the bird feeder enjoying the seeds dropped by finches.

Another odd-looking bird was on the feeder this past week. I think it was a juvenile male grackle since I saw it with adult grackles….and the plumage does look like it is coming in black (the male color).

Finally, the one window that still has a screen on it looks out mostly to grass….and there was a butterfly hiding in the now lush green blades! I’ll take off the screen next time I do some yard work!

Our New Neighborhood – August 2022

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I started out an early morning walk around the neighborhood ponds noticing the moon….almost matching the blue of the sky and the resulting image looking like a cyanotype print!

There were still a few flowers at the pond edge…and seed stalks that caught the light.

I noticed that river birches were the most numerous trees around the pond and decided that looking up into their canopy of leaves and curling bark was more interesting that viewing the whole tree. From further way.

There was a pine tree from a yard that hung over the path….a dense cross hatch of branches and needles that had detained a pine cone. All the cones that must have fallen to the ground had been picked up.

The tree I was most fascinated with was a willow – glorious with the light behind it. When I got closer, I noticed that there was a metal stake embedded in the trunk. Perhaps when it was a very young tree, it had been braced with a stake on each side….and no one came to remove the bracing. Slowly the tree is incorporating the stake into itself (this could be dangerous years in the future if the tree needs to be cut down).

I also noticed surface roots on all sides of the tree. Did the soil erode after the tree was planted?

There is probably more the this tree’s story…..

Spider Encounters

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Earlier this month I had two close encounters with spiders.

The first happened when I noticed that one of the screens on my office windows had come off during a storm; I went out to retrieve it from the flower bed noticing that it was slightly warped – probably from being ripped out of the window frame. It was also very wet, so I put it in the shower stall. I checked the other screens, and one was partially out of the window frame; I stepped into the flower bed to take it the rest of the way out and put it in the shower too. That’s when I noticed several spiders making a new web from the bottom of the screens to the shower floor! I took a few photos and was thinking that the through-window photography would be better without the screens (i.e., I would just leave them off and enjoy the clarity of the view without the screens).

Back in front of my computer screens – I noticed that the back of my right calf felt strange. I saw a puncture wound already surrounded by redness; I went upstairs and applied cortisone cream. By the evening it was hurting like an injection into a tensed muscle and the redness was a bit larger. I started putting antibiotic on it. It was not better the next day; I had my husband draw around the redness with a Sharpie so we could tell if it was getting larger/smaller. A whitish gray area formed in the middle of the redness and the muscle was still hurting the next day and I realized that it was a something different than the usual bug bite – time to go to an Urgent Care facility. They decided it looked like a spider bite! I got a tetanus shot and prescription antibiotic. The bite looked worse before it started getting better! My theory now is that while I was having my positive experience retrieving screens/photographing spiders…I also got bitten – probably by a spider I didn’t even see when I stepped into the flower beds wearing a dress rather than my usual yard work jeans!