My Biggest Fear

I live in a rural area.  Deer and racoons invade my garden and bird feeders on a nightly basis. There is an eagle that perches in a tree down the road at the dairy farm who dines regularly on unsuspecting kittens who have ventured too far from the barns.  I cut down my last remaining apple tree after the bears ripped it limb from limb.  A mama bear and two cubs have been spotted regularly in the trails where I hike.  There have been recent sightings of a cougar in the area as well.  One listens to the warnings and takes the requisite precautions.  I talk out loud when approaching blind corners in the bush; I turn around frequently to check for sneaky cats.  But afraid?  Nope, not the slightest. Okay, snakes...I don't like running into snakes.

But the the thing that makes me shudder, that makes me want to run screaming in the other direction doesn't slither like a snake.  It's smaller than a bear and stealthier than a cougar.  It has no fear and will bring all its friends when the attack begins.  I'm talking bedbugs.  I live in fear of getting infested when I'm on my Camino.  It's not so much the bites that I'm worried about, although they can look pretty hideous.  It's disinfecting all my gear.  I mean, once they're in a down sleeping bag how does one get rid of them? And once they're in one thing, they're in everything.  I picture myself sitting naked on a sunny hilltop with my pack and all its contents in a garbage bag trying to roast the things to death.

Being a conscientious pilgrim I decided I better do so some research into how to prevent an infestation.  Seems like prevention should be easier than elimination.  Apparently not.  The most common advice in the Camino forums was to pack a sheet that had previously been soaked in a chemical called permathrin and put this down on the mattress.  Don't know as I like the idea of sleeping every night in a chemical cocoon.  

So I've decided to approach this as I'm doing every other aspect of this trip -- I'm playing it by ear.  I know the signs to look for and if I get even a hint that bedbugs are lurking, I'll be hightailing it to another place to spend the night. And if that doesn't work?  

Well, look for me sitting naked on a sunny hilltop.

Book Review:  I was really looking forward to reading Bird Box, the debut novel by Josh Malerman.  It was being touted as the most horrifying novel to emerge in recent years.  Hmmm...horrifying?  Not so much.  I thought it was sort of a cross between Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Richard Matheson's I Am Legend.  Good read but depressing in that end of the world sort of way.  

Knocked off another early Michael Connelly novel.  The Last Coyote is #4 in the Harry Bosch series.  One of his better efforts, I think.  Good solid mystery.

Every now and then I like to read some non-fiction, mostly true crime (go figure).  But it has to be well written.  No Anne Rule for me.  Under the Bridge by Rebecca Godfrey is an account of the murder of Reena Virk in Victoria in 1997.  I found it particularly compelling given that it happened here on Vancouver Island and I've met and worked with some of the prosecutors and the pathologist.  But I wondered why some of the names of the guilty were changed, especially when they are readily available in any news account on the internet.