Jim's quiet musings . . .

This is the creepy thing that bit me yesterday. It's a centipede for those of you who've never seen one.

This thing wasn't the one that bit me though. I took this picture about a year or so ago when I saw it crawling around outside the back window of my kitchen.

I swore I'd never be bitten by one of these things in the first place, then about two months ago, while I was talking on my mobile phone outside late one night, I saw one wriggling towards the house from the road and decided to step on it and kill it. I knew better too, since I've tried killing these things with a hoe, and you've gotta cut them up into tiny, tiny pieces in order for the thing to die. Chop em' in half, and both pieces will go wriggling away in different directions...chop em' into four pieces and...well, you get the idea.

Anyway, cellphone in hand, I walked over to it and stamped on it. In a lightning flash, the thing whipped over and bit me on the little toe of my right foot (my 'stamping' foot). The pain wasn't bad initially, just like a regular bug bite. But, that changed about ten minutes later. Excruciating pain, for at least twenty-four hours.

So, to say I was prepared for yesterday's bite is an understatement and a misleading one. I swore I'd never be bitten by one again!

It's rainy season.

The rain sort of creeps up on you here. One week will be dry and then the deluge will come. Now it's raining in the mornings and the afternoons. Yesterday it rained all day and part of the night. I've got a large water tower to the right, as you face the cottage. Up top are six, large, blue plastic barrels to hold rain water, with an electric switch to control the reserve water from the well. The barrels are connected to a convoluted PVC piping system with a water pump at ground level. If the pump gets wet...well, it won't work. And if the pump doesn't work, I don't have water...

The pump is surrounded in a concrete "bin" of sorts, that was basically made to hold back flood water. I climbed into the bin and was readjusting the tarps, corrugated roofing material and spent umbrellas that cover the pump, to ensure the pump remained dry, since a big thunderstorm was definitely on it's way.

That's when it happened. I only saw the tail end of the thing as it shot away and under the leaves covering the ground.

Then I waited for the pain to come.

It's bad, but not as bad as last time. Last time the pain was so unbearably bad I couldn't even sleep, and was eating Paracetamol (Tylenol) like it was going out of style. This time the pain is bad, but bearable. Shouldn't be long and the pain will subside. Believe me, I'm watching the clock.

-Jeeem-