Of Rot and Roaches

As we all know, travel isn’t always pretty. I’ve had my fair share of struggle and facing fears along this trip. Dealing with a multitude of rejection, continuously picking myself back up, breathing and getting back into confidence. And then there is the pigeons, the rot and the roaches.

The pigeons are a new and unwelcome addition to our backyard. In the beginning, there were myna birds and a rather ominous cuckoo. But now, for some reasons, the pigeons are here, also known as the shitters on sheets. I’m not sure if they love rabbit food or what has brought them here, but I find myself chasing them away often, shooing them from the second-story window, trying my darndest to keep the household sheets pristine.

While composting is great for the environment, the earth and your garden, sometimes dealing with a little compost bin can be a smelly and slightly icky job. Especially the fruit at the bottom of the container that may have been sitting around on the counter in the covered container for a week. Sometimes it sticks, sometimes you get a whiff of rot up your nose, sometimes you gotta take it out with your fingers. A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. It’s like dealing with the dregs of food scraps in the sink after dishes. Unsightly at times, but a duty, a ritual. Life isn’t always pretty.

Before Australia, I had really only seen one roach. One huge roach on the wall of my dorm room in New Jersey at prep school. It freaked me out in a huge way. I hardly slept that night. Coming to Australia, roaches are just a reality, like in New York. The first few encounters I was positively squeamish. (It didn’t help that I was reading Rawi Hage’s excellent novel entitled Cockroach). They came out at night, fearless, crawling around, attenae atwitter. Blech! But soon I was seeing them outside, roaming the streets at night. The roach was just another bug, living outside and in. I started to accept the reality of the roach. And now, I don’t flinch when I see roaches. We keep the kitchen as spotless as possible (because roaches it anything and everything) but still they are busy wandering about at night. Again, another reality.

Did I get to you? Sometimes there are unpleasant realities to life. I’m just learning to acknowledge them and accept them, sharing the earth, sharing my emotions. The good, the bad and the ugly, all on the earth together.

Have no fears, images of beautiful Bondi Beach tomorrow to ease The Rot and The Roaches. ☺