Twisty-Stick Bugs

Last night, Bella seemed to be in less pain, so we did an auto tour of three supermarket parking lots. First, we went to the Freeport Raley's, but that supermarket seemed to be inappropriate for Bella - too suburban, not open all night, and with no nearby restaurants, so minimal parking-lot pickings. So, we went to the Alhambra Safeway, which was much better for Bella, but a little scary for me. The supermarket is near a transportation nexus and the Sutter Hospital complex, and features an unfamiliar cohort of homeless folks (including someone literally sleeping in a cardboard box), plus a variety of street people likely suffering schizophrenia and other mental ailments. Afterwards, we went to the familiar 19th Street Safeway. Olde times dere are not forgotten.

The sight of a struggling dog brings out sympathy from passing strangers. One fellow dropped his beer 12-pack and abandoned his girlfriend to spend three minutes hugging and kissing Bella. "I have a Husky waiting at home," he explained. I replied, "Watch out! She'll be jealous!" At the Alhambra Safeway, a swarthy, wild-haired, Rasputin-like fellow came over, waved his hands above Bella as if casting a spell, and chanted something like: "Makova, Makova, Makova, Bitch!"

The strangest person we encountered was a somewhat-emaciated woman in her 60's. "I see that your dog is limping," she said. "Yes," I replied, "we suspect it might be cancer." She replied: "No, it's the Twisty-Stick Bugs drilling into her foot. Look..." as she exposed her left shoulder, "do you see the white spot?" Indeed, there was a white spot on her California-tanned skin. "That's from Twisty-Stick larvae that bored into my skin. They were dropped all over my car back in the days when I had property by (her voice momentarily dropping to a whisper) the Gang Stalkers! I used high-power bug spray to drench my skin and force the Twisty-Stick Bugs out. A friend of mine said 'don't use that bug spray, it's toxic!', but I called someone up, and it turns out it's just fine. I recommend drenching your dog's foot in insecticide. Either it's the Twisty-Stick Bugs that's to blame, or it's the Cement Ants. They can drill through pavement. They can drill through anything!"

I thanked her for her concern, packed Bella back into the car, and drove home.