Phyllis here — I poisoned my clothes with permethrin this afternoon!  Here they are, drying themselves on my back patio up at Troy Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin:

Nary a mosquito will come near me now!  Helen's clothing got the same treatment on Friday, so we are both good to go.  Go where?  Into the Oriente of Ecuador!  Helen and I will make the descent from Quito down to the cleverly named town of Shell on November 15.  Details to follow.  We two have also allowed ourselves to be injected with Yellow Fever vaccine and we've both swallowed a 4-day series of live oral Typhoid vaccine.  If we're not done in by all those toxins, we should have a tale to tell you when we come back up to the highlands after five days in the tributaries of the Amazon.

Many thanks to Sara for showing us how to maneuver through a blog, and to Helen for having the courage to get her two cents in right away.  Hang on!

Pause now for several days of silence, as we don't actually leave Madison until November 12.