While there I attended my nephew's 5th grade field trip to a place called Marshy Point Nature Center in Harford County.

A cheerful young nature guide had collected some specimens to show the kids- 3 live ticks she had pulled off of herself that week.

WOW- very impactful!!
I asked her if she thought the one with the distictive mark was a Lone Star Tick

(It is widely believed they are not found in Maryland)

She said she had never seen one like that before and would ask the Senior Naturalist. Later in the day she caught back up with me and confirmed that he said it was indeed a Lone Star Tick.

The other 2 in the zip-lock baggie were a regular old deer tick and a big brown dog tick.

She cheerfully told me she expected that sooner or later she would tangle with Lyme.

When I lived in the Caribbean we felt that way about dengue fever- sooner or later we would get it- and most of us did at one time or another.

But dengue, as bad as it was, only lasted a week, two weeks tops.

That got me really pushing Marylanders to tell about their experiences- and I heard everything from
"I had Lyme for a couple of months, took some antibiotics, and finally pulled out of it- man it was a bad couple of months"

to "We thought we lost my mom to Lyme 3 years ago- but she's getting better now"

Anyway, in any group- the kids' baseball practice, the other grownups on the field trip, seems every body knows somebody affected acutely and pretty recently.

By the way, I enjoyed a preparation hiking trip in New Mexico in April and next week I am leaving for my big 50th birthday trip- trekking in the Himalayas.
I feel awkward about mentioning it, like some of you might say who is this chick and why is she always talking about herself, but I want to spread the word- true and hopeful- to those who are in their darkest hour of treatment. It's a tough slog, but there can be life after Lyme.