Can I tell you how thoughtful my husband is? We have been married for how long? I can’t remember… wait, let me do the math… we have been married for 45 years. He knows I hate crawling things, especially spiders, but really anything that has articulating legs or slithers. I do recognize many bugs don’t bite or sting, but it doesn’t erase the image in my mind that bugs are out to get me. Yes, they are.
One day I was sitting right next to Sam and I got a pinching bite from a huge army ant. The pain abated after a few minutes, but the army ant left a mark that lasted a week. Did Sam get bit? No.
Another time, it was a nasty bee sting in the buttocks. It swelled up like a watermelon. He didn’t get stung. I concluded, whenever I see a bug, it’s best to fast-like capture it so it can’t crawl or fly away… then I wait. I am a patient person. I patiently wait for Sam to come home from his hard day of work. Then he will rescue me from the little crawly thing I’ve captured.
There have been times when I had forgotten the confined bug somewhere and Sam discovers the jar or cup or bowl upended in the middle of the room or hallway. He has always taken care of the offender with no judgment made. He offers no condemnation to remind me how harmless the crawly thing is, or that I should be brave and squash it myself.
And, I never ask if the bug of the week gets squashed or released back into the wild. Sam will take care of the problem and return my dish, cup, or jar to the sink. He is my rescuer! He has always been my hero.
You may wonder why I write a blog about this now. Today I jailed a beetle-type bug (I think it’s a flying kind of beetle- is there such a thing?). This bug, whom I dub Juice, was writhing on his back helplessly. So now, there it sits, in all its glory… a salsa jar lid covering over the mess of a scary bug. I’m smiling because my bug rescuer will be home soon.
