In the 6 and a half years we’ve lived here in Togo, we’ve had army ants march down our hallway, black biting ants pour out of a door frame and cover our hallway, mosquitoes pour from the bathtub drain, and crabs skitter around the dining room (these I brought back as a gift to my children after a ladies’ getaway at the beach over a year ago). But this past Monday night was the first termite infestation we have experienced. Now that I have a blog I get to record these adventures for posterity and also gross some of you out! (You can stop reading now if the pictures were too much for you!)
The electricity has been going out about 5 or 6 hours each day over the past few weeks. This usually happens either all at once in the morning or for a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the early evening. On January 19th, I think the power went out in the late morning so it wasn’t unusual that the power shut off at around 6:30 that night just as we were finishing dinner. David, proud of himself, reached for our high powered mag light that he had placed near the table before dinner and switched it on, giving adequate light to finish up our meal and get the table cleared. Within 30 seconds, Hannah said, “Eww! Look at those bugs!” as about 10 bugs flocked towards the light. It didn’t register in my mind at first that these “ewwy” bugs were termites. If it had, maybe the following mayhem would have been lessened as I might have evacuated with the children more quickly.
Perhaps you may know that where there is one termite MANY quickly follow! They begin flying about as soon as they hatch and they only come out at night. Thus, the reason our little hatchlings inside the door frame began to pour out as soon as our electricity shut off. Within 45 seconds or so, there were hundreds flying frantically about, but they were crowding out the mag light so they began flying across the dinner table to the computer screen, still lit by the battery. Yes, they were in our hair, crawling on our arms, down our shirts and I was desperately trying to keep them off Caleb. Hannah ran to the recliner, balled her legs up to her chest and began wailing. I was shouting orders at Dave to hurry and find the bug spray. Gabriel was laughing crazily and Elijah kept saying “Yuck! Yuck!” Dave was running around in circles trying to find the bug spray that wasn’t in its usual spot on top of the refrigerator. Then, he lit a candle to try to draw more termites to the light and off of us, but they snuffed out the flame within about 20 seconds. “Run to the bedroom with the children and close the door!” my hero said. Thankfully, the termites hadn’t made it back to that side of the house, so we were safe and picked off the few termites still on us. 10 minutes later David opened our door and announced that it was safe to come out. He had sprayed all the termites and swept them into a neat little pile outside the kitchen doorway. Excited to see the casualties, the children all ran towards the pile and examined the “ewwy” termites. (The power was, thankfully, back on by this point!)
I knew I had to get a picture because this is a night that will probably stick in their memories for years. I know it will in mine!
The electricity has been going out about 5 or 6 hours each day over the past few weeks. This usually happens either all at once in the morning or for a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the early evening. On January 19th, I think the power went out in the late morning so it wasn’t unusual that the power shut off at around 6:30 that night just as we were finishing dinner. David, proud of himself, reached for our high powered mag light that he had placed near the table before dinner and switched it on, giving adequate light to finish up our meal and get the table cleared. Within 30 seconds, Hannah said, “Eww! Look at those bugs!” as about 10 bugs flocked towards the light. It didn’t register in my mind at first that these “ewwy” bugs were termites. If it had, maybe the following mayhem would have been lessened as I might have evacuated with the children more quickly.
Perhaps you may know that where there is one termite MANY quickly follow! They begin flying about as soon as they hatch and they only come out at night. Thus, the reason our little hatchlings inside the door frame began to pour out as soon as our electricity shut off. Within 45 seconds or so, there were hundreds flying frantically about, but they were crowding out the mag light so they began flying across the dinner table to the computer screen, still lit by the battery. Yes, they were in our hair, crawling on our arms, down our shirts and I was desperately trying to keep them off Caleb. Hannah ran to the recliner, balled her legs up to her chest and began wailing. I was shouting orders at Dave to hurry and find the bug spray. Gabriel was laughing crazily and Elijah kept saying “Yuck! Yuck!” Dave was running around in circles trying to find the bug spray that wasn’t in its usual spot on top of the refrigerator. Then, he lit a candle to try to draw more termites to the light and off of us, but they snuffed out the flame within about 20 seconds. “Run to the bedroom with the children and close the door!” my hero said. Thankfully, the termites hadn’t made it back to that side of the house, so we were safe and picked off the few termites still on us. 10 minutes later David opened our door and announced that it was safe to come out. He had sprayed all the termites and swept them into a neat little pile outside the kitchen doorway. Excited to see the casualties, the children all ran towards the pile and examined the “ewwy” termites. (The power was, thankfully, back on by this point!)
I knew I had to get a picture because this is a night that will probably stick in their memories for years. I know it will in mine!
1 comment:
Gross, gross, gross. I have the eebie jeebies just reading this post! If there was one thing I did Not like about my visit to Togo, it was the bugs...and flying bugs are the worst! I am amazed at how you handle it all. :) Yay for Dave who shuttled you off to safety so that he could take care of the icky little things. Hugs to you for living in a country where you never know what kind of household pest you may uncover. I am proud of you! Love ya.
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