Invasion of the Cicadas

I overslept. It was almost 8:00 when I dragged myself out of bed. I was cranky and out of sorts as I stumbled around trying to organize my thoughts. I needed coffee, but I also needed to get the rest rooms cleaned and mopped. And there was a little issue of dog incontinence to deal with.

As I brushed my teeth, I prioritized. I grabbed some laundry to toss in the washers as I scrubbed bathrooms. I decided that coffee would have to wait until I opened the store and was stuck firmly behind that counter. He who is making the major trip to Sam's to restock the store had left me sleeping while he did his morning drive through the park with Wall-E the wonder dog in tow. Upon finding his wife up and about when he returned, he set about to annoy me with questions. I am not nice to be around before the magic of caffeine has soothed me. Did you make a list? Where did you put my list? No, don't stop mopping the bathroom, just tell me where you put it ............

I did stop what I was doing so I could get him on his way. I went back out to attend to my morning chores. Without the sound of his voice firing questions at me, I noticed another sound. It sounded like a diesel engine running. I looked in the direction of the sound and saw nothing, just empty sites. It was the chorus of the cicadas singing in the trees. They are out there just waiting to see the lights come on ............. then they will invade the rest rooms!

The lights outside the rest rooms illuminate the building for night time relief. Campers will use the facilities, neglecting to flip the switch that will douse the lights in the bathroom and leave the door wide open ............. inviting all manner of insects and critters to come on in. And they do. I have been seen encouraging frogs out the door with my broom. Anything bigger will have to be a job for he who is my hero (I am delicate, I tell you). The mosquitoes love the warm cocoon of the lighted space and apparently, so do the cicadas.

People will smack mosquitoes onto the wall and leave a smear of mosquito goo on the walls. Some very tall people will take on the task of smashing bugs up high, out of my reach. In the past I have had to drag a step stool out with me to clean this up. But, I had an epiphany the other day and decided that a sponge mop would do the trick. O'Cedar makes a good mop. The sponge side is down, but there is a scrubbing strip on the side that is easy enough to access by turning the handle. I cleaned the ceiling and most of the walls in the men's room this morning. The ladies room will have to wait until tomorrow. The tiny little speckles of night bugs came off the ceiling easily, as well as the smeared mosquitoes .......... but, cicada juice is not easily removed. Rusty colored cicada juice is every where. I will now spend my free time researching ways to clean up cicada juice. The carcasses land on the floor and are easily swept away. I am thinking I should put them in the compost bin.