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The Chigger Lady

    Hey, everyone. It's a lovely day here in the green retreat. I thought I'd show y'all a few more pictures. The first picture is one that shows some brilliant yellow mushrooms with cupped tops which were holding a bit of water. These yellow dudes were as big around as my hand.
    Picture #2 shows some odd mushrooms that grow out like skinny little fingers. The first time I saw them I was a bit surprised. I'm sure they're fairly common but I've never seen them until I moved up here. Heck, I wouldn't even swear that they are mushrooms because that is not my area of expertise.
    Picture #3 is a common sight here in the South. In fact, it is common everywhere, most likely. Around here, they are just called chigger flowers for the simple reason that they are full of microscopic bugs that love to nibble on folks. They bite, then the spot itches like crazy until you scratch the white top off the bite mark. Then they disappear. It's hard to sleep when they itch. It is intense. They are harmless, but irritating.
    You may say, why is this man telling me this? Well, my wife and I know a lady who wasn't aware of the chiggers' occupying forces on these plants. She went out and picked herself a big bouquet of them and used them as a centerpiece for her dining room table. When we came for dinner, she said, "Something is eating me up!" She was scratching and had bites all over. We told her about the chiggers and she threw them out. Of course, no one teased her about it for the next 25 years. No, not much. Of course, she also had a new nickname.
    Hey, just a side note about gaming. Star Battalion gets better and better as I go along. If you haven't bought it yet, you should consider it. I destroyed a bunch of  Walkers last night. They are like those giant, mechanical walkers from the Star Wars movies, you know? I also got past the ice planet and into a desert clime. On a separate game, I progressed a bit farther on the terrific shooter game called Nova 2. Those of you who just bought it on sale for 99 cents are going to love it. I moved from the enemy base to the jungle and I'm having a ball. There are these giant orange flowers that suddenly lunge at you and eat you. Then you blow their brains (?) out with a shotgun. I guess flowers don't have brains. The depth of these two games is really remarkable. They go on and on, like an epic adventure. I've also been playing some Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which is fun, but it's not on the same level with the other two.
     I also played a bunch of Death Rally last night. This is a real popular game with the teens. You drive a car and try to shoot other cars during a road race. They could have named it Road Rage Road Race. Ha, Ha. I hated this game at first because the steering is really bad. I even deleted it twice. Then I gained some points and used them to improve my car's handling. Now they have a new update with the infamous Duke Nukem being a contestant. The game is always 99 cents and occasionally goes on 'sale' for free.
   One more games note. I've been playing that game I mentioned over the weekend, called Asphalt 6, Adrenaline. You would really like it. When you grab some gold-colored nitrous oxide you zoom along so fast that the lights blur and road signs  look like a picket fence. I took that line from a song called Hot Rod Lincoln. Very cool.
   From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.

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