The Not-So-Earnest End (Part 1)

Carole has been Jo’s best friend since the 6th grade (6th grade!). She is an absolute delight. We love Carole. Carole married Keith. He also is a delight. We love Keith and even Carole and Keith together. Carole and Keith live in Kentucky. Several years ago, we visited Carole and Keith in Kentucky and went for a walk in the woods with them. It was on that walk that I was attacked by an infestation of harvest mites. You probably don’t know what a harvest mite is, so let me explain. They look like tiny ticks, bite like small mosquitoes and then leave an overpowering itch that frantically needs to be scratched for months (and maybe decades) afterwards. And since I am still scratching those bites years later, I need to make a proclamation or two (true, it is not the same bites; it is that those mites laid eggs