Letters to the Editor
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Lyme Strikes Again
Dear Bay Weekly:
I experienced a situation that relates to the letter to the editor by Cheryl Emery in your paper of July 10 [Vol. xvi, No. 28]. I contracted Lyme disease from a tick I never saw. We had been here for little over a month when I discovered what I thought to be a nasty mosquito bite on my arm. Luckily, we had friends who realized that the bull’s-eye mark was typical of Lyme, and they advised me to get it seen to immediately as time is of the essence with this disease. This I did, and I was put on antibiotics for three weeks, which halted the disease in its tracks.
Unfortunately at the same time my son, who was six months old, also had a suspicious looking target mark on his hand. I am very relieved that we knew what this was and that he was treated successfully, too.
I feel for Cheryl Emery who sadly suffers symptoms of Lyme, yet she will have raised awareness by the important information in her letter.
–Georgina Berberich, North Beach
What Can You Call Them but Buttheads?
Dear Bay Weekly:
Why is it that some people believe that cigarette butts aren’t trash? Whether it’s outside of a business or on the road, these butts seem to multiply at an alarming rate!
If you drive the regular commuter route into D.C., carpooling in a hybrid vehicle of course, on Bay Front Road up to Route 4, take a look at the intersections littered with butts. People throw burning cigarettes when stopped at intersections and while driving. The intersection of Suitland Parkway and Route 4 is disgusting. I hope our beautiful Chesapeake County roads aren’t destined to look like that.
I don’t understand why this is okay. Cigarette butts are litter (and flammable).
–Maggi Gunnels, Churchton
Two More Cents on Burton’s Question
Dear Bay Weekly:
I know that I am more than a day late (and undoubtedly also a dollar short), but I was on vacation and am struggling to catch up.
So here’s my two cents worth on Bill Burton’s question about whether our energy crisis forces offshore drilling [Oil or Environment: What’s your say in these troubled times? Vol. Xvi, No. 26: June 26].
I grew up in Wyoming. My uncle serviced oil wells or drilling rigs, which meant a long daily trip on dirt roads from one oil drilling rig or derrick to another, fixing any pump problems, checking to make sure that everything was okay. Of course, pipelines carry the oil to distribution points.
I never ever saw any detrimental effects on wildlife from the presence of oil derricks or the pipeline in real life. It gets very cold and snowy in Wyoming in the winter, yet wildlife continued to proliferate on the prairie along with the accouterments of oil drilling.
So I think that the worries about effects of oil drilling on the environment are imagined.
It reminds me of people who worry that airports will kill wildlife. Airports are frequently inhabited by a wide variety of wildlife since they can coexist with planes along the border areas, usually undisturbed by dogs and other predators.
I have had the privilege of visiting the preservation areas at both Constellation Energy (Calvert Cliffs) and Dominion Gas in Lusby, where eagles, deer and lots of other creatures abound.
–Susan Shaw, Huntingtown
Editor’s Note: Shaw is a Calvert County Commissioner
Mouth-Watering Issue
Dear Bay Weekly:
Great edition of the paper you put out on July 17 [Vol. xvi, No. 29]. Just looking at all you had to say about The Joys of Eating Locally made my mouth water!
–Farley Peters, Fairhaven
