eeeeew!

Ah! The Italian countryside! Cool breezes! Great vistas! And... bugs! Yes, the bug quantity here is just shockingly high. Whether it's the swarming giant gnat/grasshopper like things under the pines by the car, the enormous inch-long flies buzzing when you read outside, the wasps trying to make a nest under the loggia, the huge ants that are suddenly crawling on your flip-flop-clad foot when you look down, or, of course, the mosquitoes, all of these are rather expected outside, and that's okay, because it's their world too.

But inside, it's still a world of bugs. We were already working hard to eradicate the mosquitoes, when John had to turn his vigilance to the wasps who had started looking inside for a cozy home. He takes down around four a day, but they keep coming.

And then we noticed the centipedes, which have been increasing in number. Oh, and then there was the millipede I found by the bed, which is a truly heart-stopping creature, 2-1/2 inches long with pincers on its tail. I had just managed to conquer my fear and squish him with the handle of a wooden spoon (it was tucked into a corner), calmly lain down on the bed again, when a chunky spider crawled down the front of my nightgown. This led to further shrieking and leaping off the bed, this time by both my husband and me. It's no surprise that John had a night terror the other night. When I asked him what he was seeing? "A bug."

But I expect another night terror tonight. This morning when I got up, John invited me over to see something on his computer. I had brought my water glass from my bedside and was slowly sipping to re-hydrate after the night when he suddenly yelled at me to, "stop drinking!" My jaw dropped, the water I had in my mouth fell out, and then I noticed the large spider I had been about to gulp down floating in the bottom of the glass. Eeeeew. I think I might need to get a lid for my water glass.