Beetlebug is back

Thursday, February 4, 2021

Sometimes I get lost in my work up in the attic and I feel disconnected from the rest of the household. The kids are asleep. OG is in another state (the basement). I play my records but things sometimes feel a bit closed in and solitary.

But as I took a moment to stretch, and did a neck roll, I saw it: beetlebug tucked under the manual pencil sharpener. As if aware that I had peeped him, he took flight and landed on the whitish sloped ceiling. I, of course, instinctively ducked and in the process, succeeded in pulling a muscle in my neck.

I took a moment to try to capture the creature, visually that is. I snapped a quick photo with my phone but was too nervous to get in close enough to show any detail. The pic doesn’t begin to capture its size and degree of intimidation. But I have to admit that I wasn’t as nervous around this beetlebug. I am pretty sure it is a relative of the one I had saved. And I am guessing that perhaps she (or he) is part of a family of beetlebugs living their lives somewhere in the roof.

Although beetlebug is not the ideal companion, I am learning to accept her (or him) as my roommate. At times, I can hear beetlebug buzzing around the chandelier above the stairs, banging into a bulb before settling down on the slanted ceiling to recover. I am no longer bothered by beetlebug. Part of me feels like I should try to save this one but I am not quite ready yet. My Entomophobia is not quite cured. But what matters is that I am learning to adapt.

So back to the project: I did continue to mark images that I like and have jotted a few ideas for an Afterword that would allow me to add some words of praise/admiration. Or perhaps include some “thank yous.”