Shoe smacking...

Well, the power just went off again. Figures it would do it just as I am finally able to sit down to put together a blog. Thankfully, the laptop should allow me several hours to work on the computer. I’ve been struggling to find the delicate balance between school work, house work, ministry and blog and recently, have had to add power outages and water shortages back in the mix. It goes without saying that this isn’t part of my plan…okay...the power just came back on (four and a half hours after going off). And we just read yesterday how the power outages are supposed to be over with...guess we're tapering off instead of going cold turkey.

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. We’re fine…just covered up right now. Language school seems to keep us extremely busy these days. We mistakenly thought that by cutting down the number of hours we were attending per week, we would gain some free time. That’s not the case. Instead, it seems as though our study time has had to increase and our “free” time, has dwindled down to doing errands. Our written work is far better than our conversational skills and even though I am able to usually get my point across, I find my comprehension of the language being rattled off ninety-to-nothing is really lacking. When will we ever know this language?????

We visited Miguel and his family yesterday…I will write about that separately…they are worthy of their own space. Today, I will share with you about our most recent visitors. The first night we moved in to this house, we had a small gray and white cat walk right through the bars on the outer door and in to the dining room. Of course, Jim chased her out and over the next few weeks, we would occasionally catch a glimpse of her running out through the yard. We also discovered there was an all–gray cat that would perch upon the security wall, tucked safely between the circles of razor wire.

One evening, as we were in the living room studying, we heard a noise in the kitchen and Jim went to check it out…the gray and white cat had jumped up on our little deck and had come through the open back door, jumped upon the kitchen counter and ripped open our loaf of bread. Needless to say, she was ushered out again and because we did it with a lot of noise, hand clapping and arm waving, we assumed we would have scared her so badly she wouldn’t return. We’re slow learners.

A few days later, we stopped at our now, second-favorite bakery to try one of their loaves of specialty breads. It smelled so good and there was such an array of beautiful crusty breads that it was difficult to choose. We settled on a nice round loaf of hearty bread for dinner that night and two crusty buns for lunch the next day, paying more than we usually allot for bread…but it smelled so much worth it!

That afternoon, as we were once again in the living room studying, we heard that familiar rustling noise in the kitchen. Both of us jumped up in time to see the gray and white cat leap down off the counter and run out the back door. We found our newly purchased breads lying strewn across the counter on to the floor in pieces! The cat didn’t even try the cheap loaf of bread. So, we not only realized the cat was NOT dissuaded by our attempts to shoo her away, but we also discovered she had a very discerning palate.

We weighed our options: we could live in a closed up house in a tropical country…not an option; we could somehow eliminate the cat…not an option for animal lovers like ourselves; we could get screens on the doors…an option but not one that would happen quickly; or we could buy cat food and try to teach the kitty that outside was a more peaceful place to get food than inside. Guess which one we chose? And guess who quickly decided to “own” us, letting us know in a very vocal way when her dish needed food or water...both several times a day.

And yes, we named her. In Spanish, the word “rogar” means “to beg” and the word for a female cat is “gata”…kitty’s name is now “Rogata”. I figured that her presence might cut down on the viability of rats or bats settling in our roof so we might as well give her a name since she was going to be working for us. (believe me, I am a master at rationalization and justification!)

Most stray cats are very shy here and run at the sight of a human. Rogata is different – at least with us. I think she must have lived here and was left behind when the former tenants moved out. She is a bit skittish but will come and rub up against my legs and will follow me around on the carport and front porch – especially when she’s hungry. And she’s very bold about coming in to the house but after a few spritzes with a water bottle, she has learned Jim does not want a house cat yet if I walk in the door, she skitters in after me and tries to stay behind my legs. She’s a smart cat…and a trusting one.

A few nights in to our new relationship with our feline friend, Jim noticed more movement out on the carport near Rogata’s dish. He quietly made it toward the door and found that Rogata was a mama who had brought her kitty to the Gringo Sucker house to eat. The kitty was the spittin’ image of her mama and looked to be about 4-6 weeks old…it’s hard to tell ages here with people or with animals. The common denominator of a hard life takes its toll on both. Rogata was very pleased with herself and was not at all concerned at our presence in regards to her baby. The baby wasn’t so sure and ran to hide, not being nearly as trusting as its mama.

Great…now we had another mouth to feed…you know how much I hated to see that adorable little kitty crouched down next to her mama. We started to understand Rogata’s incessant need to eat and drink so much…she, too, was feeding another mouth. Oh, that it would have stopped there. The very next night, Rogata brought more guests to dine at her dish…two more babies! Another one that looked like its mama and one that was all gray. Now I know the elusive gray cat we had seen was the father. And I’m already wondering how many litters of kitties are we going to be seeing here this next year?

Rogata remains friendly…the kittens do not, running and hiding every time we even get close to the door (this was a special moment in that we were able to get the picture taken before the kitties realized we were so close)...although they are very curious about what goes on inside. I love this picture...mama looks like she's begging for someone to help her get a moment's peace from the "children" and the kitties are just like children everywhere, wanting Mom to "fix" dinner. Jim is in the process of putting screens on the doors – to keep both mosquitos and cats out. And he’s learned to check the car before leaving. One of the kitties managed to crawl up under the hood and took a ride to the filling station and back, mewing all the way. When Jim got home and opened the hood, it jumped out and didn’t show its face the rest of the day.

Wildlife. Wish I could say it stopped with the kitties…not so. A couple of weeks ago, Jim

discovered a nice hairy tarantula standing in our hallway between the two bedrooms. I heard him make a really funny sound and then smack his shoe really hard on the floor. He told me not to come in to the hallway. So I did exactly what was expected…I went in to the hallway to see him scooping up a flattened giant ball of “fur” on to the flyswatter. He told me what it was and a quick glance confirmed he wasn’t kidding. I have to say I checked our bed out thoroughly that night before getting in to it.

This past Saturday night, Jim went downstairs to put away some of his tools and once again, I heard a vaguely familiar funny sound come from Jim and immediately followed by about a half a dozen rapid hard smacking sounds. I thought he had found another tarantula. He told me not to come down there…when will he learn that I interpret that as him just begging me to come? He told me he had killed a scorpion…well that I had to see. So I cautiously went down the steps expecting to see a scorpion similar in size and color to the one I had seen in Shell Knob years ago at a friend’s house.

I wish. This one was dark in color and about 4” long, although he seemed much bigger. Jim assured me he was dead although his curled up tail still quivered and his back left leg kicked a bit. Jim went upstairs to get the scorpion spray to speed along the final demise of the beastie and I stood guard – from a distance – to ensure the thing wasn’t just playing possum…although I’m not sure what I would have done if he decided to get up and start walking again. I do somewhat remember that I was ever-so-sweetly urging Jim to not choose that point in time to dawdle. This picture was taken post-mortum so I’m assuming the scorpion was a bit thicker prior to the shoe smacking.

So…what’s scarier than finding a scorpion in your house? Answer…finding two. Yep. Jim found another one in the guard/gardener room. This room is accessible only through the outside of the house and has an attached bathroom with shower. It’s a perfect place for Freddy to clean up and change clothes before going home and it allows us to provide bathroom facilities for outside employees. We have hired a temporary night guard for the next three weeks, to get us through the holiday time, when the rate of robberies increase, and until we can find someone on a permanent basis.

Jim went down yesterday afternoon to move some used, old Nica-style mattresses that we have stored out of that room to prepare for its use for the night guard. We don’t want to tempt a night guard to take a nap while on duty by leaving mattresses out where they’re readily available to him. He shook and checked each mattress as he got ready to carry them in to the basement. As he got ready to pick up the last one, one he had already checked over, he noticed something on the side of it he hadn’t noticed earlier. Sure enough, it was another scorpion, almost identical to the one he had killed a few nights earlier.

I guess he didn’t want my “help” on this one because he had it killed and disposed of before he even came to tell me about it. That’s okay, though…seeing one scorpion, even though it was dead, is enough for me although I have a funny feeling that one won’t be my last one. It appears inevitable that we are going to have to deal with them but neither of us are looking forward to getting stung and plan on trying to avoid that at all costs. The sting from this kind isn’t fatal but it is supposed to be extremely painful with temporary paralysis often occurring. I hate spiders with a passion but I almost think I would rather deal with the shy little tarantula than these nasty tempered things.

I have tried to figure out why God would make such a creature…guess that’s something only God could answer. Cute kitties, I understand and I welcome, but stinging scorpions? Those I’m hard-pressed to embrace, yet find I am being forced to accept as a part of my environment. I don’t want to deal with them but I don’t know that I’m going to have much say in the matter. That kind of equates to having to deal with one another, doesn’t it? Some folks are full of life and are a pleasure to have around. Others are walking poison.

Lord…please bring to my mind that flattened scorpion every time I want to sting someone else

out of my own impatience or frustration. Remind me of the fact that You are the Creator, omnipotent and omniscient and I am the created…why do I sometimes question and think my own way is best? I don’t want to have to be smacked with a spiritual shoe, Lord. Remind me that I have a choice as to how I react to all my circumstances. Remind me I have a choice to obey or disobey. Remind me I have the choice to follow You or to follow the world, to serve You or to serve self. One is filled with joy, the other filled with poison. Remind me, Lord, remind me.

“Choose for yourselves this day…” Joshua 24:15