So I was on Fear Factor yesterday. Oh you didn't know that it is still in production? Well it is. And it was filmed in my backyard. Or at least that is what it felt like. And in order to complete my daunting task I had to keep telling myself I was going to win lots of money. I had to clean windows in concrete window wells that were like 6' under ground. It may not seem that scarey to most people, but seeing as they were filled with about 12 inches of dead leaves, trash and who knows how many centipedes, big juicy worms and SPIDERS. It was a problem.
Only when I tried to lower myself down into the well did I realize how deep it was. Luckily I was able to catch myself before I went too far and went and grabbed a step stool (which I still had to drop onto after lowering myself down). Being a girl from So Cal I have never had to clean basement windows and their wells before. It was my worst nightmare once I started shoveling those wet moldy leaves into a bag. I cannot express the horror I felt as tons of HUGE Nasty looking spiders & centipedes starting running towards my sandled feet. More were climbing up the wall right next to my body, face, etc. I get chills again just thinking about it. I cleaned the window as fast as I could and then high tailed it out of there running and shaking off any pests that had attached themselves to me. None did because I kept a very wary eye on each one of them.
This reminded me of an experience on my honeymoon to Cancun. My husband and I went to Xcaret excited to see their amazing underground rivers. You put on lifevests and snorkel masks and then jump in the water that has a current that just takes you through these dark tunnels with only sporatic skylights. We expected to see fish swimming below us, but really there was nothing living in the water that we could see because the rivers were man made apparantly. It was cool, but after a while we were kind of claustrophobic and itching for more adventure. So we decided to take a detour. Along the way there are many little side tunnels that veer off of the main tunnel and we decided to take one thinking it would connect back up. Well instead it eventually ended into a teeny opening of which we could see the light from outside. I thought if we took off our gear and twisted our bodies in very akward positions (which we were accustomed to) we might be able to get through to the other side. So I went first and it was quite a task. It probably took about 2 minutes- as my eyes adjusted to the suddenly very sunny day outside I looked up and realized that people were staring down at us as if we were part of an exhibit.
Let me just take a moment to explain that this amusement park has many exotic animals in what would be considered quite different caging philosophies then we are used to in the US. They have extremely natural exhibits where the water from the sea turtle exhibit runs into that of the deadly crocidile exhibit which lie just beneath a bridge that the crowds walk across with just one rope for a handle to guide you. Anyone could easily fall in. My point is that they have very open exhibits.
I suddenly realized that we were in some sort of exhibit and screamed at my husband to go back! Then as I looked at the wall that I had just come out of scraping my face and body against to get out, I saw that it was covered in thousands of GIANT silverfish bugs. It took every ounce of courage in me to hug my body against those walls swarming with bugs, but I guess the fear of not knowing which exhibit we had ventured into made me do the impossible. We were never quite sure which exhibit we had clambered into, but to this day we think it was THIS ONE. So I would like to thank this experience for allowing me to have the courage to tackle cleaning the window well yesterday. Thank you Mr. Manatee and all your squirmy silverfishy friends. The windows look great.
Only when I tried to lower myself down into the well did I realize how deep it was. Luckily I was able to catch myself before I went too far and went and grabbed a step stool (which I still had to drop onto after lowering myself down). Being a girl from So Cal I have never had to clean basement windows and their wells before. It was my worst nightmare once I started shoveling those wet moldy leaves into a bag. I cannot express the horror I felt as tons of HUGE Nasty looking spiders & centipedes starting running towards my sandled feet. More were climbing up the wall right next to my body, face, etc. I get chills again just thinking about it. I cleaned the window as fast as I could and then high tailed it out of there running and shaking off any pests that had attached themselves to me. None did because I kept a very wary eye on each one of them.
This reminded me of an experience on my honeymoon to Cancun. My husband and I went to Xcaret excited to see their amazing underground rivers. You put on lifevests and snorkel masks and then jump in the water that has a current that just takes you through these dark tunnels with only sporatic skylights. We expected to see fish swimming below us, but really there was nothing living in the water that we could see because the rivers were man made apparantly. It was cool, but after a while we were kind of claustrophobic and itching for more adventure. So we decided to take a detour. Along the way there are many little side tunnels that veer off of the main tunnel and we decided to take one thinking it would connect back up. Well instead it eventually ended into a teeny opening of which we could see the light from outside. I thought if we took off our gear and twisted our bodies in very akward positions (which we were accustomed to) we might be able to get through to the other side. So I went first and it was quite a task. It probably took about 2 minutes- as my eyes adjusted to the suddenly very sunny day outside I looked up and realized that people were staring down at us as if we were part of an exhibit.
Let me just take a moment to explain that this amusement park has many exotic animals in what would be considered quite different caging philosophies then we are used to in the US. They have extremely natural exhibits where the water from the sea turtle exhibit runs into that of the deadly crocidile exhibit which lie just beneath a bridge that the crowds walk across with just one rope for a handle to guide you. Anyone could easily fall in. My point is that they have very open exhibits.
I suddenly realized that we were in some sort of exhibit and screamed at my husband to go back! Then as I looked at the wall that I had just come out of scraping my face and body against to get out, I saw that it was covered in thousands of GIANT silverfish bugs. It took every ounce of courage in me to hug my body against those walls swarming with bugs, but I guess the fear of not knowing which exhibit we had ventured into made me do the impossible. We were never quite sure which exhibit we had clambered into, but to this day we think it was THIS ONE. So I would like to thank this experience for allowing me to have the courage to tackle cleaning the window well yesterday. Thank you Mr. Manatee and all your squirmy silverfishy friends. The windows look great.
5 comments:
I'm trying to remember who cleaned out the window wells growing up. Terrible job. My brothers kept frogs in them in the summer too and there were always Black Widows. I don't know if anyone dared do that task. By the way. How do you know Jennifer Fairbanks? She was my roommate at BYU back when she was Jen Glassford.
Oh, Amanda - you have such a way with words! I can just see you cleaning those windows and cleaning out all those leaves and bugs and worms and spiders - yuck! Good for you. I still remember you telling us that story about your honeymoon swim adventure. Hilarious! Who is Melissa that was roommates with Jen? The new pics of Gavin and Jackson are precious. Love you! Mom
I am so excited that you found me too! Here I thought that I was the only one of the Hatch clan to get into blogging and now I see all of the links on your blog and I am so happy! I can't believe how big Gavin and Jackson are now! I also loved your story about cleaning out the window wells and the scuba diving. It will be so fun to see you guys when we come to Utah this week!
I had to read your honeymoon adventure a couple of times to believe it...I could have never done that. You are so adventureous! The window wells might be a nice place for boys to play! They love bugs and dirt and would be contained. I would have been screaming!
The honeymoon story is fantastic.
You write really well--I totally got the feeling of the panic....I am one of those strange people who 'likes bugs'--but that would be too much for me!!!
Your blog is wonderful, and I love to see how well you guys are doing.
Love ya,
Angela
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