It's Life, Jim

It's difficult to imagine that even the most besotted of cockroaches might genuinely find the object of his affections attractive, but such are the numbers of these benighted creatures, in this area of the world at least, that we must take this to be the case.

One of them popped up on the EcoBoat in Ha Long Bay. My fellow teacher, Carol, having an even greater aversion than my own to the insect, refused to sleep on the floor where it had been travelling and took to the slightly higher level of the top of the boxes where we stowed our gear. I manfully remained on the deck and was aware of the roach crawling by me, in fact over me, on at least one occasion in the night. It helped that I was too tired to care. I suppose that some eighteen years exposure to their large, ugly, ungainliness has bred in me at least a touch of indifference - though I still recall the absolute horrifying paralysis of my first encounter with one, and my realisation that things might really be different at some fundamental level here in the tropics.

Yesterday another roach decided to join me in the shower cubicle in the early morning. As usual I called in Noi to deal with the situation. My wife, who cannot stand touching cats, has no problem picking up a squirming cockroach, and holding firmly onto it until some kind of disposal can be effected. As a result of her good offices, and of replenishing the anti-cockroach devices we have around the apartment - which, with fitting brutality, go under the trade-name Wipeout - I was able to shower in peace and, almost, security this morning.

Later today we travel to Kuala Lumpur with our three nieces and who knows what unfamiliar life-forms we may encounter there. This time last year we found ourselves dealing with an injured bird who'd decided to attempt to fly through one of the panes of glass in one of our windows. The poor thing was revived by a bit of tender loving care and I hope is still flying around today. That was the occasion of the photographs posted above, three of my all-time favourites. I'm hoping to be on-line in KL having recently repaired a faulty modem in my computer there and, if I am, then I should be posting soon from an even further place, God willing.