...bugs. Over the past few days, I have had my share of them. From the eyed click beetle to mosquitoes to ants to spiders, if they all got stuck in glue strips or gobbled up by their natural predators tomorrow, I wouldn't miss them at all. I swear the only reason they were put on this earth was to freak me out.
Take the Eyed Click Beetle for instance. These creatures are supposed to be a nocturnal, plant-eating insect and should only grow to be about 2" long. However, I have lost all confidence in Wikipedia as the one I encountered showed up in the middle of the day and was at least 3" long:
Yesterday afternoon I was painting the iron railings that are along the walls of our walk-up basement which lead to the backyard. Weeks before, Chris spent countless hours sanding off the old paint and priming the surface for a new coat. He has been away for the past two weeks and I told him since he did all the work sanding and priming, I would be more than happy to paint it while he was gone. It was a warm sunny day and I was in the zone with the paintbrush-just minding my own business. Shortly after I started, one of these beetles came out of nowhere, flying toward me at Mach 3–and it was loud. I think it must have had a little too much nectar the night before while out with his buddies and got lost on its way home. I could just see all of the other beetles in the woods behind our house cracking up, fist-bumping each other as their drunk buddy freaked out the lady with the paintbrush. It totally startled me. To keep from losing my balance, I grabbed the wet railing, and then lost my balance as I tripped in a small hole–I'm sure I was a site to behold. After I gained my composure, I ran into the house to grab the camera in hopes I could snap a picture of it so later I can figure out what type of monster was invading my property. I also took a photo of it with my iPhone so I can text it to my husband, show him what type of conditions I am working in, and hope that he'll feel sorry for me and tell me not to worry about it–he'll do it when he gets home. No such luck.
Fast forward to 800 am this morning. After a "ruff" night with my dog Baron and there was no chance of me even trying to go back to bed, I decided to get an early start on the remaining railing. Once again, I was in the zone with the paintbrush and enjoying the quiet morning. Shortly after I started my feet started to get this itchy feeling and I just passed it off as the rough grass brushing up against my skin. When it didn't go away, I looked down, there were dozens of ants (thank goodness they weren't fire ants) nibbling away at the tops of my feet.
I sent numerous text messages to Chris right after...no reply as of yet! I can't win.
I don't know why, but I just felt like scrapbooking this forgettable moment in my everyday life.
