So the purpose of this blog. A little humor. A little glimpse into my possible future life on the Race. Or maybe something else.
Reading other blogs on here, it's pretty clear to me that you'll meet plenty of lovely wildlife and some not so lovely wildlife which you'll be sharing plenty of space with whether you would like to or not. Much of that wildlife being able to at least count up to 6 or more on their own legs. On a personal level, insects don't bug me (pun intended) too much. I can do without a few of them, but I don't turn hysterical at the sight of a ladybug.
So last night I'm about to call it a night. Teeth are brushed and I'm ready to jump into bed. Go into my room, close the door, about to hit the light and something scurries along the bottom of the door into the corner. Greaaat….. It's already late enough at this point, I'd rather not have any late night visitors. Taking a closer look, I find my friend.
Yes. Exactly what I was hoping to see. A centipede. /end sarcasm. My mother hates these because they'd show up in the house every once in awhile back home. And at one point I'd even poked a little fun because they didn't seem like a big deal to me. Then I spent last summer in Japan. I'm not poking fun anymore. I received all the education I ever wanted to on centipedes while spending my summer there. If there is a Clint Eastwood bug that nobody ever wants to mess with because you realize you'd probably end up regretting it, this is it. In Japan I received all sorts of warnings about them from both local people and the military families and youth there. Basically they told us not to kill them because if you do, they release some sort of scent which just brings all their buddies running to come stalk you when you least expect it. Yeehaw! Vengeful insects. (Sci-fyish right?) Their suggestions, get it outside or boil it. Obviously easier said than done.
So back to last night, my buddy is a lovely centipede in a corner that is not condusive to reaching it. My options?
1. Ignore it and say a prayer that I don't wake up to find it latched onto my nose.
2. Capture and release in case he's got a posse nearby.
3. Eliminate the threat.
As tired as I was, option 1 was tempting, but nixed. I'm not about to share my room with someone who won't help with rent. Two wasn't really viable because capturing would not be easy and it would likely involve me just trying to grab it with my hand. That leaves option 3. Him vs. me. Mono y mono.
In an ideal world, I would've grabbed the sweeper, shop vacced him up and that'd be it. It's not ideal though. It's late. The person I'm renting from is already asleep in the room next to mine with two dogs. Both of which tend to go crazy at night at the drop of a feather. Nix the vaccum. Also nix the idea of boiling anything I'm going to be cooking food out of. Surveying my room, I really don't have anything ideal to get at it. Checking elsewhere, I find a block of wood. It's square at the bottom, so I'm hopeful it does the trick.
Ever try to silently squash a bug in a corner with a block of wood? Yeah… silently doesn't work. Now I've got a barking dog and the centipede is on the move towards me. "Smack! Smack!" Wailing away all the while trying to avoid the wall and driving the one dog even crazier. Some how I managed to miss every single time, even when I thought I clearly had him. And just like that he's behind my dresser. GREAT! This just gets better and better. Not only did I fail to eliminate him, he's even closer to my bed and probably already has my name at that point in his little black book. Isn't this centipede familiar with the book of Gensis? Chapter 1 verse 26 – Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” I'm pretty sure centipedes qualify here. However, that doesn't seem to matter much to my friend. Just because they can crawl on walls and not just on the ground, does not disqualify him here.
At this point, I've given up on the idea of getting him and have reverted back to option number 1 which was to ignore it. The next decision. Did I want to ignore it from my bed or from the couch out in the living room now? My bed it was. So I said my prayer, asking that I wasn't jumped by a gang of centipedes while I slumbered. Upon awaking this morning, I was happy to find myself in one piece.
So after some reflection of last night's events, I figure it's all gotta be God working in His own little way to prepare me for all of the fun little unepected experiences we'll be having over the course of 11 months. I can't imagine this will be my only encouter with an unwanted visitor during this time leading up to the Race and DEFINITELY not when I'm on it. 🙂
The final outcome of our Battle Royale? A Draw. I can live with that. So can the centipede I'm sure.
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