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Yellow Jackets
Question: What color jacket do you wear? I can tell you this, I hope I never EVER meet up again with those horrid wasps known as Yellow Jackets - no matter what color their jackets might be.
Yesterday I was using a leaf blower to clean our front porch. (I try to clean it about once each decade or so. The leaves from previous Autumns were beginning to be visible from the street, so.... In addition, we have all sorts of other living things that seem to enjoy our porch - deer (occasionally - especially when I forget to remove the pumpkins after Halloween and Thanksgiving), chipmunks, squirrels, cats, dogs (neighbor's pets), spiders, and bugs of all Michigander sorts. The leaf blower is very powerful (a wonderful gift from our son, David, who is also very powerful as well) and I was having great success in moving the debris from the porch to the surrounding area when suddenly I felt a stabbing on my left hand. Thinking I might have accidentally touched a briar, I looked down and there it was - the Yellow Jacket and millions of its siblings suddenly all over me.
I immediately was stung multiple times on my hands, arms, chest, back, legs, shoulders, neck ears, face and thoroughly on my bald(ing) head. I seem to have been stung in places I didn't know I had! I don't recall ever experiencing so much pain previously. I attempted to run away but I just learned that Yellow Jackets can fly 8 miles per hour and I am a good bit less than that. My heavy breathing was noticed by Phyllis and Isabella (our GREAT-Grandaughter) and I thought I might have to go to the hospital. I immediately called our powerful son, David, and asked his advice. He suggested that I go to the local Lansing Urgent Care facility. He also said that I should do that as quickly as possible to receive an anti-histamine injection.
I carefully but quickly drove there and was immediately seen by medical personnel. As predicted, the needle was jabbed into my butt (one spot the Yellow Family missed.) The injection didn't hurt nearly as much as the stings, thankfully.
In addition, they did a quick work-up and took vital signs (including looking at my throat.) They prescribed meds and told me that they never remembered seeing an 87-year-old geezer with so many stings. Oh yes, they examined (and counted) between 30 and 40 stings. I am almost certain that they mis-counted because I am positive that there are between 200,000 to 400-000 there.
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As a result of my experience in mid-afternnon and the continued discomfort, there was not one wink of sleep last night. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
STING