Robin Sparkles

I can’t leave you all without giving the latest ɲεgεn update.  Obviously.

Phinneas is gone.  I haven’t seen him since I got back to Mountougula.  I can’t say this is a disappointment.  I have, however, discovered new spiders to be my fascination.  I call them “sparkly spiders” because I notice them at night when the light from my flashlight catches them.  Something on their head area catches the light and sparkles like diamonds.  If you catch them at the right angle, you can see them from quite a distance.  So far I’ve only seen them in 2 places: near the wall outside my door and in the ɲεgεn.  The one in the ɲεgεn has a little hole in the ground that it hides in.  It comes out only at night and it sits in its hole with only its front 4 legs poking out.  I’ve never seen a spider quite like ithome in a hole and glimmery.  I’ve decided to name this one Robin Sparkles. 

Every night during my ɲεgεn trip, I would notice what looked like small crickets hanging out in front of the ɲεgεn hole.  I always wondered why I only saw the little crickets there and nowhere else.  Finally I had an “aha!” moment when I realized the “crickets” are actually baby cockroaches.  It was the antennae that gave it away.  Longer than the body and able to move in any direction – duh, Michelle.  I was initially thrown off by the size and the translucent coloring, but I really should’ve known.  I thought for awhile about killing them and preventing new generations of ɲεgεn creepers, but eventually I realized my efforts would probably be futile and I’d end up with baby roach goop all over my shoes.  Not worth it.

Last creepy crawlie story: a few nights ago I had a run-in with the pinnacle of ɲεgεn-creature-nastiness.  I walked in the door only to find a roach directly in my path to the hole.  This roach was different: it was dead.  And it was being eaten by about 15 ants.  I guess my reaction is a pretty good testament to how much I’ve changed already in the last 4 weeks.  I saw the death feast, was momentarily grossed out/horrified, and then shrugged and stepped over the whole thing and continued with my nightly routine.  Really, what else was there to do?