Pouring rain…What, me worry?…Three days to safari…

Read below for the significance of this photo of Alfred E. Newman

Last night, the humidity was unbearable. We were sweating profusely as we dined on our cold dinner of low carb, gluten-free “unwich,” a bread-less subway sandwich using lettuce leaves on the outside; turkey, ham, cooked bacon, sliced cheese, mayo, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions on the inside, all tightly wrapped with parchment paper and a rubber band. 

Recently, Hesborn brought us a stand-up fan to use in our outdoor living room. Not only does the breeze help keep us a little cooler, but when close to us, it helps keep some the flying things off of us. 

Lately, I’d given up drinking hot tea at 4:00 pm, my usual ritual.  Drinking the hot beverage only adds to the sweating.  Whoever said drinking a hot beverage on a hot day, keeps one cool, was kidding themselves. That concept is flawed.

After watching a few recorded shows, Homeland and Damages (we’re catching up on prior seasons), I went to bed by 10:30 pm with Tom following shortly thereafter.  The weirdest thing happened when I got into bed, worsening when Tom entered the seemingly securely placed mosquito netting.

A huge number of quarter-inch long beige, tightly winged flying things started attacking us both inside the netting. Where were they coming from? What are they? 

Flailing our arms wildly, we tried to kill them. How would we ever get to sleep? I kept imagining being awake all night dealing with this situation. We considered sleeping in the guest room, but when I got up to look, they were in that bed as well. What was going on?

They looked like a type of moth. When I’d swat one, it was “crunchy.” Oh.

Determined to get some sleep, we both used the light reflecting from our phones to find and kill them, one by one, pushing the dead bodies off the bed and onto the floor beyond the netting. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.

Finally, an hour later, we thought we’d had removed the last one.  But, we knew they were continuing to fly all over the room requiring that neither of us gets out of bed during the night and open the netting. We both stayed put.

During the night, the rain pelted on the thatched roof.  Once, I awake to the sound of water dripping in the hallway outside our bedroom door. There was nothing we could do. In the morning there was a puddle on the floor in the hallway. Luckily, our digital equipment was inside the bedroom with us, safe from the rain.

Tom awakened this morning before me. When he ventured outside to our outdoor living room, he moved our “sofa” to avoid the rain soaking it. At that point, a strong wind was blowing the rain into our outdoor living room.

In the realm of things, it wasn’t a big deal. This morning, we’re safe, dry, and healthy. Who’s to complain?  During these events, we both stay calm, although I let out a few yelps when the flying things flew in my face. 

Today, we’d planned to go to Madafoo’s, our new weekly outing. With the on and off rain today, the continuing high humidity, neither of us have any interest in sitting on the beach and dining outdoors while trying to find cover when the rain starts up again. Our plan is to go tomorrow depending upon the weather. 

Most likely the flying things were due to the increased humidity and upcoming rain. Hopefully, this won’t occur again this evening. Sleep is a valuable commodity, especially when the elements are challenging at times.

Soon, we’ll start packing for the safari. Hopefully, our laundry will dry in time before we go. Hopefully, it won’t be raining when we board the little prop plane. Hopefully, it won’t rain when we’re on safari. What, me worry?

Comments and responses Pouring rain…What, me worry?…Three days to safari…

  1. Anonymous Reply

    Your unwich actually sounded pretty good. And wrapping it in parchment paper and a rubber band was wise. I shall have to try this.
    So sorry to hear about the heat and humidity. I was wondering how you were able to drink hot tea in that heat. In the summertime if I drink hot tea, I always have to turn on the kitchen fan even when the air conditioner is running.
    Glad to hear you survived the flying insects and you were probably right about them coming in because of the rain. Stay tough; it won't be long and you will be heading somewhere different. The safari will be worth it all!

    Back at our house, we had to have a sump pump installed a few months ago and are still trying to get the basement back together. What a mess and how could we have accumulated so much stuff over the 40 years we have lived in this house! We have gotten rid of a lot but still have way too much. I just hope the sump pump solves our leaky basement problem.
    We are also rabbit sitting for our grandkids who are with their parents in Disney World for a week plus 4 traveling days. The only problem is cleaning the cage everyday, yuk. I take him outside for exercise for at least an hour everyday. I can't bare to see him just sitting in the cage all day, so I let him out in the bathroom and just put him in the cage at night. He is getting used to being here now and always comes to me when I open the bathroom door. He is a huge white welch rabbit with the big ears. Our 2 cats just sit and stare at him when he is in the cage. I always wonder what they are thinking.
    Stay safe and happy,
    Pat and Dan

  2. Jessica Reply

    Pat and Dan, we figured out the bug problem in the bed…a screen in an high window was torn. Hesborn replaced it, Tom sprayed the room in the late afternoon and we were bug free in bed for a good night's sleep. Yeah!

    The rabbit sounds so cute! I know its a little inconvenient but it must be quite fun. He's in good hands with you! How sweet that you take him in the yard and let him be out of the cage. I'm sure I'd do the same thing.

    You mentioned the hot tea. I am drinking it right now as I'm sitting outside with the fan blowing on me. It's too hot in the afternoon to have tea which I miss but the added sweating isn't worth it.

    Hope your new sump pump holds up well for you. Leaky basements were a real issue for us in Minnesota as well.

    We're trying to decide if we go out today or stay put and finish our packing which I'm writing about today. We shall see what we feel like as the day wears on.

    Have a wonderful day with the bunny and your honey!
    Warmest regards,
    Jess & Tom

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