the bugs are back

Out West you always hear about how many bugs there are in Florida and Texas and that they are all huge. I have seen some extremely large insects here and varieties you wouldn't believe. But much to my surprise I haven't been too grossed out (especially since everyone uses pest control of some sort so you usually don't find anything in your house).
For example, a common western grasshopper about the size of a child's finger is the size of a dill pickle here (no joke, I was so amazed when I first saw one). And another time I found two big black spiders in my garage that I swear must be related to the tarantula. They were huge and thick. (Not to mention, Krystal, the ginormous wolf spider the size of my palm that almost ran in the front door).
Just this morning Ethan came running into the kitchen and declared that we had to hurry to the back patio because there was a "huge slime" out there. It was a slug the size of well, since I like the comparison, a dill pickle! I've also found a good size rhino beetle, shimmery blue butterflies, huge cockroaches, and have even had to deal with fleas though we have no animals and don't even wear shoes in the house! It's all just the Florida way. They say that here, you either have had cockroaches, have them now or will have them. It's just a fact. Did I mention the fire ants? They look like nice little ants, no harm done, and then they sneakily climb all over your feet and legs and bite the heck out of you leaving you with pussy bumps and itching for weeks. But after a while you just get used to it all. I guess it's what makes Florida interesting in a way.

What made me think about this was night before last when I went to take the trash out at around 10pm. I love being outside at night because it's so calm and peaceful. So I laid down on the driveway to enjoy the full moon, the stars, the silhouettes of the trees, the warm smells and evening breeze, and all the many night sounds. Now let me tell you, the night sounds here aren't a little cricket chirping here or there, it is more like a loud musical of layer upon layer of different bugs and frogs. I tried to seperate out all the sounds: small crickets, medium crickets, large crickets (pickle sized grasshoppers), cicadas, small frogs, large frogs, toads, tree frogs, and many other creatures that I couldn't come up with. It really was SO awesome!

Here is a video that I took one evening last year when I heard this loud motor sound coming from outside. All my windows and doors were shut. I opened the front door to find out what it was and yep, it was the bugs! Loud eh?

* As I lay on the driveway the other night I really hoped that I wouldn't have a run in with some night creature, like a bug up the shorts or in the hair. Well, just as I stood up to go inside something made a dash for my shorts, a large beetle of some sort, a cockroach?, the size of a silver dollar! Luckily I was already on my way up so it ran past me into the grass. Phew, that was close!