Bugs

Mt Olomana









There are big bugs in Hawaii.  No snakes - which may be why bugs exist in such plentitude. You learn to shake out any closed toed shoes just in case a centipede lurks within.  Centipedes can reach nine inches and have a venomous bite.  They move fast. I flipped on the kitchen light early one morning and a centipede fell from the ceiling fixture perilously near my bare feet.  I shrieked and jumped for a counter when here came Jim.  He grabbed a chef’s knife and chopped the thing in pieces.  My hero!      

Laugh if you will but it took me awhile to identify cockroaches. I’d never seen one and they come in various colors and sizes.  Some are as big as Junebugs, you get out of the way when they come flying at you.   I spotted a cane spider in our carport, it was as big as my fist and according to island lore, can jump twenty feet, please not on me.

There was a drive-in movie on the windward side.  Patrons parked their cars facing an outdoor movie screen that stood at the foot of Mt. Olomana, it’s three looming peaks backlit by golden sunset, surreal in the deepening gloom and primordially reminiscent of a 60s black light poster.  

Pat and Janet were there enjoying a movie when they noticed a cane spider sitting on the rearview mirror.  A total freakout followed as the spider disappeared who knows where, ending their movie viewing. They did not find the spider and drove home  with all the windows down. I’m still laughing at that story all these years later.  


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