Tuesday, July 24, 2012

I love the jungle but does the jungle love me?

I love the jungle but the jungle's still not sure about me. It keeps throwing all these tests at me like a child testing their boundaries.
How well do I take to slipping and falling covering my legs, back and arms in mud?
Jungle-1 Pride-0

I woke up this morning feeling good about being on Island time. That means when 5am comes so does my wake up call. Yesterday it was trees full of howler monkeys, this morning it was a house shaking thunder storm. I felt like I was at an alternative disco party where the music was rain splashing against the tin roof, leaves and the bay below. Accompanying the music was lighting as quick as a strobe light hell bend on causing a seizure. Flash flash flash! Breath. Flash FLASH flash! Then a boom that makes me wonder if it was just thunder or a mini earthquake. The black dog Magellan, with the sweetest face, was worried about me so she's stayed close to comfort me durning the storm. Its the first time I've woken up with her right beside the bed. She might just want an early breakfast but she keeps rubbing up against me after every big roll of thunder. Which surprising for me does not follow ever flash of lighting.
Jungle-2 Sleeping in-0

Current test: 
How many bug bites can I handle before looking like a monkey jumping around?

If you saw the table you might consider me at prayer to the 'please don't bite me anymore bug gods' I have a candle, a lantern, a tiger ring citronella incense spiral, a lighter in case anything just goes out and needs to be relit and bug spray. I finally caved and doused myself in some off! bug spray. Right now I might look like a dog that needs a cone because I keep itching and scratching a spot on the back of my neck compulsively.

I'm not winching by any means (an Australian term; complaining) but I am flinching. A week ago if I saw something out of the corner of my eye I would flinch drastically wondering who or what was there. I believe in ghosts so I'm sure any movement could be some ghostly shadow. Now I've come to realize its just one of the many geckos, lizards or bugs. Could even be the blue tinged cockroach I found while cleaning up the books. The bigger bugs I see the less dramatic I get about the smaller ones. So now it has to be the size of my small moleskins notebook and alive for me to flinch and want to run into the false security of the mosquito net. I now wish I had captured the ginormousode that I was freaked out about so my being a scaredy cat would be warranted.

I've taken to saying things like to Jenn like:
'Did you hear me NOT scream?'
'Did you notice me NOT flinch?'

Also saying things to the bugs in close proximity like:
'Will you just please leave me alone?'
'Was slamming into me really necessary?'
'Oh yeah, just land on me and see what happens!'
Smack, squash... 'May that be a lesson to your brothers and sisters'

Here's a moth that decided to take a ferocious nose dive into my head...
Pretty right?!
Jungle-3 Bug free zone-0

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