A layer of fluffy snow on the ground makes mosquitoes unimaginable right now. I haven’t seen one for more than 4 long, cold months. The high temperature is below freezing today, and all those little bloodsuckers are on ice.
So the first clue that I’m going somewhere completely different is my trip to the pharmacy to pick up malaria prevention medication. Even the pharmacist blanches as the pre-insurance total rings up to around $8 per pill. Better to pay the price, I guess, than to risk the cycle of pain, fever, chills, and sweats of malaria parasites. Pick your poison, because these are the “common side effects” listed for the malaria medicine: cough, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, loss of appetite, mouth sores, nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, weakness.
And so the journey begins as I pack DEET-infused bug spray, dig for the sunscreen in the back of the linen closet, and swallow my mosquito pills.
Enjoying reading this, Tara.
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