The Centipede

There is a creature in the sink. It has about 50 legs on each side of its long, light brown, bendy body with tiny hairs that look like peach fuzz. The devil has come for me, or perhaps just a run of the mill house centipede has lost its way.

It has antennae protruding majestically out of the front and back of its body, twice as long as its legs. It can’t see well, but navigates its way with those ever-busy information-grabbing antennae. It tries to escape the damp porcelain walls of my dirty sink still scattered with some of last night’s leftovers. I tried to count its legs but the little demon is moving too quick and erratic. 15. It looks to be about 15 hairy legs on each side. Wow, 30 little legs. Imagine having all of that mobility. Shame though – all those legs and no exits for miles. It makes an inch of progress as it climbs up the slippery side only to slide back down again. It repeats this process over and over. Am I cruel to watch its failure or just curious?

I wonder what purpose the centipede serves here. Will it still be attempting to escape its watery prison once I finish writing or will it have slithered its way out into a crack in the wall, lurking and waiting in the soothing calm of a near-empty house, ready to pounce and swallow me whole?

An insect no bigger than 2” has crawled its way out of the bowels of my kitchen pipes and into the light of this sunshiny Wednesday sparking a fountain of creativity in me again. I think I’ll leave the poor creature alone for now as I’m running out of my coveted morning time and need to venture off into my work world. This guy makes my arm hair stand on end, but if he (or she) is still fumbling around confused when I get home this afternoon, I think a little photo shoot is in order. (Pun intended). Then I shall send him on his merry way.

I swiftly forgot about my meaningful morning with the insect the moment I left the house and had to experience my earlier horror all over again when I rediscovered him creeping around my sink. Eeks. I put a paper towel in his path, he happily climbed aboard, and I hurriedly flicked him into a deep (hopefully deep enough) mixing bowl before he could jump off onto my skin and eat me.

The sun is shining hot and intensely on my backyard porch. Light! It’s a perfect place for picture taking. Snap, snap, snap. This slippery serpent looks exquisitely beautiful somehow to me now. Perhaps it isn’t the devil who paid me a visit today, but just one of God’s abundant creatures who got sidetracked looking for some snacks or a cozy place to lay eggs. I hope not the second.

I am reminded to take time out of my day to appreciate the little things. All of life’s best moments are the little ones.