“Love is a piano dropped from a fourth story window, and you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” ~Ani Defraco
Two geckos were mating in our bedroom door jamb. Unbeknownst to us…we shut the door! Wrong place! Wrong Time!
It’s been one of those days!
My morning post on Facebook
The comments were just as funny:
And, everyone always asks “what do you do all day?” JAjajaja !!!
Ah yes, living the dream on your island paradise, enchanted by the natural wonders of a varied environment, free from the hustle/bustle of urban decay, awash in the joys of nature’s bounty …… Carol and I are headed to the Garden Café for lunch. ( They live in Granada)
Even my work cubicle sounds better than what you’re going through!
This is the stuff they don’t write about in International Living!
International Living should be outlawed IMHO. I love it here, really do and there is not a lot that can happen to us that we don’t laugh about the next day. But I’m out of the honeymoon phase. Some things at the moment they happen just drive you insane.
Okay, insects swarming into your mouth may not be traumatic for you, but I think it would be for me. Maybe I should just move back to Canada?
We spent the day holed up in our bedroom. It’s the only place to escape from the swarms of chayules invading every nook and cranny of our house. Actually, it wasn’t too bad. We watched movies and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We couldn’t cook because the chayules were clinging to my pots and pans. I only ingested a few chayules that got stuck on the peanut butter.
In the late afternoon, we ventured outside. Everyone in the neighborhood had their doors and windows shut and they were burning leaves and brush to ward off the chayules. So, I joined in the fun and burnt several smokey piles of leaves.
When the sun set, we kept the lights off, so as not to attract the chayules. I have a citronella candle sitting by my laptop so I don’t breathe chayules. Yes! They are everywhere. That’s part of life in the tropics. Sharon said, “Mother nature cannot be controlled…we have to just learn to live with these things and laugh about them..no sense trying to worry about controlling what cannot be controlled!!” How true. She house sat for us when there was a chayule swarm, so she knows what it’s like.
This evening we had a wicked storm. The sky flashed, the thunder boomed and shook our house, and the wind blew my dream catchers and wind chimes off the porch. I heard tree branches cracking. Cappy, our 4 mo. old puppy hid under the bed. At one point when it was pelting what sounded like hail, I thought I’d join him.
The casita roof still leaks from where the internet technicians installed our tower. Cappy is teething and the legs of my tables and chairs, including my arms and legs, have little bites out of them. My house smells like fish!
Mama said there’d be days like this. Living on a tropical island in the middle of a sweet sea, in the middle of Nicaragua, in the middle of Central America is challenging at times. Yet, the fresh smell of the rich earth after a rain, the boundless joy of a puppy, a hornet’s nest burnt out of the tree, movie day in a dark, cool bedroom, and a citronella candle by my side, make up for times like this.
Mañana…I’ll deal with the aftermath of the swarm of chayules. Mañana…we’ll patch the casita roof again. Mañana…I’ll get Cappy some big cow bones to gnaw. There’s always mañana.
Oh darn, so sorry we missed the chayules…. not! I can deal with water and other outages and a sharing the house with wildlife to a point, but when they have taken over the kitchen that’s a bit much. I wonder if they taste like fish 😀
At least the geckos died quickly, in the throes of ecstasy.
Saludos, Don Cuevas
Jeje!
Oh my! I’m glad you can stay so positive through all that. My husband would be livid, but you’re right about not worrying about what you can’t change.
I have a kitten that chews on my legs and feet and arms, so I know about the teething problem first hand. I bought him a teething ring from Walmart and that helped some.
Keep your great attitude.
Sunni, I brought back teething toys when I was in the states for our puppy. I keep the Nylabones in the freezer and give him one when he’s gnawing on the furniture. It helps for a while. 😦 I definitely can’t control these chayule swarms. Thank goodness it only happens 2 times a year, they don’t bite, and they only live for 3 days. Thanks for your encouraging thoughts.
A few years back we had a swarm of similar insects that flew across Lake Erie from Canada. They didn’t smell like fish but the swarm was so large they used a snow plow to get them off the streets to prevent accidents. Yes, manana
Whoa! Now that is a picture of abundance. Haha! Too bad we don’t have a snow plow here. Our yard is totally covered with dead chayules. The chickens are fat and happy.
The first time I saw the beach at San Jorge I thought, ‘what’s wrong with this picture, why are there not a lot of nice homes here with this spectacular view of Isla Ometepe?’ The homes on the beach were mostly shacks, then I experienced the chayules… I know the answer now!
Yep! I think San Jorge and the other side of the island get the swarms more frequently than we do. Two times a year is more than enough for me.
Yes, there are days like this regardless of our latitude. I enjoy reading about your positive ways of dealing with them. 🙂
Lynne, I may seem positive on the outside, because there is really nothing I can do to control the chayules. But, without any control, I sometimes get a little frantic. Haha.