Today I wake up, start my routine, stare at my to-do list, get side-tracked, and re-dedicate myself to my list of tasks.
I get out my huge soup pot, because busy schedules mean bulk meals that I’ll eat for every meal of every day for a week straight. Like soup.
As I’m about to strip all the vegetables of their nutrients by boiling them into soup, I look into the pot and see that it’s been stormed by an army of tiny, silver bugs.
Silverfish.
These bugs prefer dark, damp areas in the home and are especially attracted to old water in dingy places. Like me, silverfish feed mostly on carbohydrates. Unlike me, they can survive for several months without food! They are nocturnal and they wriggle like tiny, disgusting fish through my kitchen cabinet.
So my first thought is to toss the pot immediately, but my second thought prevails because I remember that I’m too broke to buy another soup pot. So I clean it out and spend the next hour cleaning out half my kitchen, where the rest of the silverfish have apparently infiltrated.
Crisis averted. Ready and soup-fueled to plow through my to-do list, I sit down to play with my puppy (because it’s not procrastination if it delights a puppy). I pull out her favorite old sock and tantalize her by smothering her face with it. Then I spot a tiny little black critter maneuvering its way blissfully through the fur of her hindleg. To my horror, I find another one closeby.
Fleas.
Raising pets involves many challenges, but flea investations may be one of the worst. Once these peevish little A-holes invade your home, you’re doomed with them for up to two years. Normally I can find consolation on the internet by googling remedies for these kinds of problems, but even cyber-space offers no words of encouragement when it comes to fleas.
So as for THIS grape, I struggle to turn it into some sort of “sweet” wine, considering that I’ll be cleaning my entire apartment inside and out every day for the next few months. But I think I can draw several parallels between this situation and some of the lessons that God has taught me though Peace Corps so far:
- Like many experiences in Peace Corps, fleas test my ability to practice long-term problem solving rather than relying on quick-fix solutions.
- Fleas snap us into the present moment and make us focus ferociously on the task at hand (I have become utterly consumed by the flea mission).
- Fleas require me to do all that I can do reduce the problem, but to accept the fact that many parts of the issue lie outside my immediate control.
- A flea-invested home in Armenia means getting really creative while working with limited resources (can’t afford a vaccuum, have to use natural flea remedies, etc).
- Fleas encourage me to be extra attentive to my animal, my home, and myself, and look closely into everything.
Suffice it to say, I was considerably “bugged” today by everything that happened. But I’m going to make “flea hour” fun each day by creating a special flea playlist and singing obnoxiously while I attack my home with cleaning products.
These bugs will not suck my blood, and they most certainly will not suck my joy.
Weekly Grape: How the heck do I turn a flea problem into something good?
