Parodies Lost

Ah, spring. The grass is greening, the robins are deworming the lawns, and the Rocky Mountain Wood Ticks have arrived at St. Michael's. I'm out here as the Director for Sage Hill Writing Experience, with poet and translator Erin Moure and 8 poets from across Canada. Moving the colloquium from fall to spring resulted in an unexpected addition of participants ... wood ticks are in season. Thankfully, our Saskatchewan ticks appear to be lazy and indecisive. They really only cling to your clothes if you brush right by them, and it takes them hours to decide to actually get around to biting anyone - which means you've got a good chance to notice them long before that happens. So far they've been more of an annoyance than anything else.