Cotulla, Texas:
We thought the gate was going to be quiet. We were half right: My night shift is deader than a doornail and Bob's day shift is busy.
During the day, both Pad A and Pad B have activity. Bob comes back in the 5er to cool off in between check ins. He no sooner gets inside and gets seated than the motion sensor goes off and he heads right back out the door.
Why doesn't he stay outside, you ask? Because it's 100 degrees. Today there was little to no wind, so it was just plain hot. The two air conditioners in the 5er keep it a cool 75-78 degrees. Much more comfortable than outside.
Our only news today was Bob's trip into town for groceries at the Super S. Oh, and tonight as I was closing the gate after a big rig left around 10:30 p.m., I saw my first scorpion. It was tooling along next to where I was walking. The color was tan...a very small, skinny scorpion with a curled tail held high. I let it be.
The other night I even let a spider live and it was chasing me! I abhor spiders and am a super spider scaredy cat. The only reasons I didn't stomp on it were: (a) I didn't like the looks of it, (b) it was chasing me, and (c) I was afraid if I tried to step on it, it would jump at my other leg and bite me--I didn't know if hopping on two feet to jump on it would be effective so I left it alone and ran away from it. Sheesh. I hope it doesn't come back to bite me in the you-know-what.
Pics of our site, clouds and the local flora:
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| The awning is out...good for more shade! |
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| Beautiful sky this afternoon. |
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| New signs went up this afternoon along the pipeline. |
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| Pipeline about 20' from our 5er. Yikes! |
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| A different view of our rig. |
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| Desert flora--notice the spikes. |
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| Again, notice the spikes on this plant. |
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| Black-eyed Susans alongside the road. |
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| The entrance to our gate from the road. |
It looks so peaceful and inviting there!
ReplyDeleteI also am a big baby when it comes to spiders. My kids have inherited this (wimpy) trait. I know it is genetic and not a learned quality. Is it possibly derived from me screaming every time I see a Daddy Longlegs spider? Nahhhh.
best,
MOV
Yes, genetic that's it. My mom is horribly afraid of spiders too. I scream when I see any kind of spider except daddy longlegs. We used to play with daddy longlegs when we were kids because we knew they wouldn't hurt us. Where we grew up we had black widow spiders and I think that's where my fear came from. My dad was always warning us not to play around the woodpile or stick out hands in dark places where a spider might be lurking.
DeleteMy grandmother, on the other hand, was deathly afraid of snakes.
Looks like a nice almost quiet spot, Yeah I think I would be staying away from those spiders as well.
ReplyDeleteKeep cool.
As a general rule I stay as far away from spiders as I can, except, as stated above, daddy longlegs.
DeleteI see that my truck isn't the only one that has a layer of dirt on it. Are you able to wash it or at least the windows before you go into town?
ReplyDeleteThe dirt is ridiculous. No, we don't usually wash the car or truck before going to town. If my car windshield is super dirty, I stop at the first gas station in town and wash it!
DeleteI had a 50+ yr. phobia of spiders until recently. You've got the makings of my cure if you'd like to give a try.
ReplyDeleteAll you need is a scorpion, a spider, a glass jar and a piece of paper.
A few years ago I encountered a few scorpions at our place. I decided to capture one rather than kill it right away.
Technique (works great for mosquitoes, flies, spiders, etc.): Just take a glass jar and slowly put it over the bug in question. Works great 'cause the glass being clear, they don't see it coming like a swat with a newspaper, also doesn't leave a mess on the wall. Once you've captured the bug under the glass jar, slide the paper between the jar and wall. Pick up the jar/paper, voila, one captured bug. If I want to dispose of it right away - microwave for 10 sec. - bug demise. Or place lid over jar to keep bug till later.
When I had a captured scorpion, I wondered which would come out ahead in a head to head - spider or scorpion? So I caught a spider (same technique) and put them in the same jar.
Scorpions are mean dudes - made a meal of the spider in no time at all. Tried it again with another spider - same results.
How I got over my phobia of spiders was, I figured that spider ought to be way more scared of me than I should be of them. How would you like to be dumped into a jar with a scorpion?
Since then I've way less spooked by spiders - still don't like them, but them don't freak me out like they did.
What kind of spider was chasing you? Was it a tarantula? A wolf spider? I would freak out it I had a spider chasing me... Yikes!!!
ReplyDeleteVicky,
DeleteDefinitely NOT a tarantula. I don't think it was a wolf spider as it wasn't that big. I was trying to get away from the spider not trying to look at it closely to identify it!
Susan