1982 at
Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah Just before sunrise as a Pvt 2 we were fixing to have a formation, one of the guys said, great it's just about time those **** biting gnats show up.
I smiled and as a native Ga boy tried to educate my Yankee brethren that gnats don't bite, well as we were standing at attention the sun started coming up and the sand fleas started to eat us alive, and I understood what he was calling gnats.
They are so small, yet so painful, we called them flying teeth. Learned a trick, you could cover yourself in
Avon skin so soft, then when they showed up it would kill them, and you would be covered in little black dead sand fleas in the
oil that skin so soft is.
We used to say in Savannah that you knew what time of year it was by what type of bug was biting you. You can put dog flea collars in the hem of your pants, that will keep most of the chiggers out, and dusting yourself with sulphur powder will keep most of the disease carrying ticks off, just Lord knows do not get even a tiny bit of sulphur in your eyes, you will think your going blind if you do.
Then try to find a high percentage of DEET, Army used to get it in 100% strength in little green bottles, everybody had one in their helmet band.
That is the bugs, then we have something in those fresh water creeks known as a Cotton Mouth water moccasin. Rattle snakes are actually a little friendly and even a Copper
Head will avoid you if it can, but a Cotton Mouth is truly evil, it will lay in wait to bite you, and will chase you too.
During Summer especially up those rivers, when it starts to get hot, the
wind completely goes away, smoke will rise straight up and that is when the heat really starts to build.
However if you desire seclusion, I am absolutely sure you can find many places that have remained unchanged for Centuries, if you go when it's not
Africa hot and are a wilderness person, you may be in Hog Heaven as it's called down here.
If you desire the night life, clubs and the hustle and bustle of city life, keep moving cause you will hate it here.