As a rule, I am not a bug loving woman. I am not extremely fearful of them; I just don’t like ’em.
And so in order to quantify my dislike of those particular creatures, I have created for myself a finely tuned, diligently researched Bug Rating System. It basically states: Bugs that fly are not as scary as bugs that crawl. (And yes I realize that scientifically speaking, the word bugs doesn’t accurately cover the whole spectrum of flying/crawling creatures, but work with me here.)
Well, last night after dinner, Steve went upstairs to our master bath before leaving for our Wednesday night church service. (Sarah and I were leaving a few minutes after him.) He came back downstairs and was just about to disappear out the front door when he paused, came back into the kitchen and said to us in serious tones, “Oh by the way. There’s a large, brown moth trapped in our bathroom. I’ll have to take care of it when I get home; I don’t have time right now.”
And he was gone.
Sarah and I stared at each other in bewilderment. A large moth? A moth so big that it couldn’t be “taken care of” before church? What could it possibly be? A Monster Moth? A Gargantuan Godzilla Moth? A Moth That Would Bring The National Geographic Film Crews Running?
We were both stumped. And also befuddled.
And I have to add, I was just slightly anxious. I mean, this mysterious, monstrous creature was trapped in our bathroom? The bathroom where I was headed in just 10 seconds? Ewww.
I must say that even though I was firmly quoting my Bug Rating System to myself in an attempt to assuage my anxiety, I wasn’t real thrilled about what I was going to see when I opened the bathroom door.
I crept quietly up the stairs and tiptoed through the bedroom. I paused at the bathroom door, took a deep breath, steadied myself and then flung the door open.
And. There. It. Was.
The Monster Moth. It was bigger than I had even imagined.
In fact, it was huge! It was brown! It was looming over me! It was coming after me! It was . . .
. . . a curtain.
Yep. The center part of the curtain rod had given way and the resulting shape very much resembled a perfect, moth-like creature.
Brown. And also big. And very much in the Undealable With Before Church category.
After I had chortled to myself momentarily I called to Sarah, “Do you want to see the huge moth Dad was telling you about?”
She said, “Um. No not really.” (She not a real big bug gal, either.)
I said, “Well, don’t worry. It’s not alive anymore. Just come poke your head in the bathroom door and look.”
With a great amount of trepidation, Sarah tip-toed up to the bathroom door. And looked. And laughed.
Yep. Last night’s Monster Moth Incident has convinced me that I am going to have to add another category to my Bug Rating List:
1) Bugs that fly 2) Bugs that crawl 3) Bugs that are made from fallen bathroom curtains.
I’ll let you guess which one I’m the least afraid of.
Ayeeee! It’s Mothra! Love Steve’s sense of humor! The only “bugs” that give me the creeps and are at top of my list are cockroaches (any kind), silverfish, centi-& milli-pedes. Bees that get into my indoor environment get smooshed & flushed, too, but only because I react badly to stings. However, bats need to stay outside of my home and catch mosquitos – I don’t want rabies shots! Otherwise, the “bug” & animal worlds are pretty fascinating to me!
Guerrina, Glad someone else got the Mothra reference!
I would not have entered this bathroom until someone had told me it was safe. Moths and butterflies are the animals which share the first place on my “I hate/ fear it” list. Yeah, butterflies, they just creep me out with this fluttering movement. Ugh! Add this powdery state they are in when killed and… *shudders*
On the other hand I love, love, LOVE spiders, they are right up there with wolves, foxes, cats and bats (yeah, they flutter, too, but they are MAMMALS) on my “Top 5 animals I love most” list.
So glad for you that this moth turned out to be a very textile one! And a non-scary one. Love your husband’s humor, too!
best wishes Nadine from Germany
Nadine,
You love spiders? Wow. I don’t think I will ever get to that place because they creep me out quite a lot. But butterflies I think are lovely and graceful and wonderful. Moths, not so much.
Isn’t it funny how different people look at the same creatures so differently? It’s what makes life so interesting. And yes, I was very glod for the textile moth.
Hm, maybe you will get to that place once, who knows? I’ve been absolutely terrified of dogs for all of my childhood (I’ve been bitten in the face during my six-week stay at a foster family at age two, I have the scar to tell the tale) and most of my teen years before my relationships with canines changed dramatically. Today they may not be among the Top 5, but definitely among the Top 10 and I could even imagine having a dog of my own someday.
And my love of spiders has a funny side effect: anywhere where people realize the fact I soon get designated the Official Spider Removal Person. *lol*
best wishes Nadine from Germany
That’s great! I love Steve’s sense of humor! Thanks for the laugh. 🙂
Leeanne, yes, his sense of humor is one of the first things about him that I fell in love with. And it hasn’t wavered in the 32 years I’ve known him.
Too funny!
BTW, I’d agree with you on the flying bugs being less scary than crawling ones, except for those roaches that can fly…. Terrifying. lol.
Amanda, Flying roaches? Ick. And also EEEEK! Roaches are bad enough without taking to the air!
What a hilarious post! Thanks for making me smile.
Yesterday, I was driving home from an appointment, and the sky was so gray and cloudy with a forecast for yet MORE snow! Suddenly, my CD player (which I didn’t think had a CD in it) started inexplicably and cheerily blasting out “God is Great!” from your CD, which I must have left in the CD drive! It’s never before turned on and started playing a CD, and it was exactly the encouragement I needed! Thanks for being a blessing in so many ways to so many people!
Jenna,
Glad the post made you smile. And I’m also happy that that song came on just at the right time when you needed it. It’s amazing how God arranges the details of our lives and knows when we need encouragement the most.