more delightful poison

So they’re dusting my neighborhood for mosquitoes (because of West Nile Virus). Again. I had to rush home from YSA volleyball at the stake center to walk the dog and shut up all the doors and windows so that stuff doesn’t come inside. The dusting should be starting any minute now. At least this time it’s not so creepy because my house isn’t ground zero. But that means someone else’s house is ground zero. And they’re probably creeped out right now. I know that they’re just trying to prevent West Nile Virus, but I can’t help wondering how this pesticide stuff is going to hurt us in the long run. Meanwhile I hope someone out there is working on a cure. Or some kind of vaccine. I read on Wikipedia that there are three possibilities in terms of West Nile symptoms in people. The first and most common has no symptoms. The second (and somewhat less common) is called West Nile Fever, and looks pretty much like the flu: lasts a week, fever, aches and chills, swollen lymph nodes, etc. The third and most scary, but least common, is called West Nile Meningitis, and is as bad as it sounds. This is the one that has got us all paranoid. It can infect the spinal cord (in rare cases) and is mostly characterized by a lower level of consciousness and hyperactive “deep tendon reflexes,” followed by “long convalescence with fatigue.” I imagine it can kill kids and seniors.

Why did I include information about the symptoms (based on only slightly legitimate research)? In my personal experience, knowing more about something makes you fear it less. When I didn’t know what kind of havoc West Nile could wreak on my body, I was a lot more afraid. But now that I know what I’m up against, I’m okay. I can handle this. But I’m still afraid of the pesticide.