Join the potluck dinner at the Chappy Community Center on Tuesday, Sept. 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. Bring a dish to serve six people.

There is a Chappy Ferry steering committee meeting on Thursday, Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. The Zoom link will be on the town of Edgartown’s website a couple of days prior.

When I was a kid, the only tick-borne disease that we knew about was Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Once they figured out that you had it, they treated it and you were back on the playground in a week. Now ticks can give you a vast array of ailments and diseases. Some of those are not very treatable, do permanent damage and affect you for the rest of your life.

The latest tick disease, carried by the relative newcomer Lone Star tick, causes you to be allergic to mammal products. The disease can be life-threatening when you first get it because you may have an extreme reaction to eating red meat or dairy.

I ended up in the emergency room. I had eaten an ample-sized portion of cheese and meat lasagna. Granted, a normal person wouldn’t have felt very good after eating as much as I did but I started getting a big rash and eventually a tightening in my chest. The nice folks at the hospital pumped me full of steroids and sent me home with an EpiPen.

The silver lining is that I have lost 25 pounds so far and continue to thin down. I may have to head out into the woods to get a booster bite if my descent stops.

The latest critter to come on the scene is the oak mite. Google it. It’s a marvelous wonder of nature. It bites you and leaves an itchy little welt. Can you tell when one is on you? Nope. Can you keep them from getting on you if you are outside? Nope. Can you keep them out of your house? Nope. Can you scratch the welts? Nope. Can you treat the welts? Nope.

The only way to avoid them apparently is to move to a place where oaks don’t grow. It’s microscopic and only bites you by mistake. Fabulous creature!