Chickens vs Road Crossings

Cluck...too see IF those "weeds" growing in the cracks in the sidewalk in
front of The Ruin at 35 Marechal Joffre were REALLY cabbages. Yes...they
are. Seeds regularly fall from the many, many farm tractors and
implements that frequent the Croix Verte intersection. Our house being right at
that intersection grows cabbages in the cracks in the pavement outside our
door. I will now water them. Other seed is nearby hunting for
opportunities...barley, wheat, lentils, sunflower, colza...oh the colza...a
weed here at the ruin like any other but with a beautiful yellow flower that colors
the oil when in the Euro 1.66 bottles.
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Not enough rain to talk about these last couple of weeks, drizzle here, a downpour there but nothing like back in the oh so wet and gloomy Spring. Now though, the Aoutat are out and about, the invisible bastards eat me at the ankles, unseen but not unfelt...like a transparent mosquito only a thousand times smaller and insidious. No French repellent really works, not deet because we can't get it here, not salves, it's too late then, I'm eaten already not oily crap...nothing. Just bites that itch like hell for about 5 days then fade slowly to a bothersome scab. God made those huh? What the hell was He thinking? I think it must be a TEST of some diabolical kind. But I'm too damned stupid to get it.
I cite:
Harvest mites (genus Trombicula; also known as red bugs, trombiculid mites,
scrub-itch mites, berry bugs or, in their larval stage, as chiggers,
(Aoutat) are mites in the family Trombiculidae that live in forests and grasslands
and the courtyard at 35 Rue Marechal Joffre. In their larval stage they attach to various parts of HNLutes anatomy (ouch!), animals including humans (me) and feed on skin, often causing itching (no shit!). These relatives of ticks are nearly microscopic measuring 0.4 mm (1/100 of an inch) and have a chrome-orange hue, can you say INVISIBLE?. A common species of harvest mite in Northern America is Trombicula alfreddugesi; in the UK the most prevalent harvest mite is Trombicula autumnalis. In France they are known as Aoutat (Ah-Oo-Tah).
Harvest mite larvae are tiny, irritating (very), red immatures between
the egg and nymph stages, which have not yet become adult mites. They are
usually microscopic (yes). The larvae often live in the courtyard of 35
Marechal Joffre, Lignieres, Cher, France, berry patches, tall grass and
weeds, woodland edges, pine straw, leaves, and treebark, or in typical
habitats of their hosts (especially rodents, and cats, quite a mix
there). The larval mites feed on the skin cells of HN Lute, but not blood, of
animals, including humans (me again). The six-legged parasitic larva
feeds on a large variety of creatures including me, other humans, rabbits,
toads, box turtles, quail, cats and even some insects(!!!). After crawling onto
me their host, they inject digestive enzymes into my tender skin that break
down my very own skin cells. They do not actually "bite," but instead form a
hole in my tender skin and chew up tiny parts of the my inner skin, thus
causing severe irritation and swelling to ME. The severe itching is
accompanied by red pimple-like bumps (papules) or hives and skin rash or
lesions on a sun-exposed area. For me and other humans, itching usually
occurs after the larvae detach from the sweet, tender skin.
After feeding on me, the larvae drop to the ground and become
nymphs, then mature into adults which have 8 legs and are harmless to
myself. In the post larval stage, they are not parasitic and feed on
plant materials. The females lay 3-8 eggs in a litter, usually on a leaf or
under the roots of a plant, and die by autumn. The best time of all in the courtyard of 35 Rue Marechal Joffre.