Thursday, May 26, 2011

Cloudy With a Chance of Gecko


Have you ever experienced the profound slowing of time following an unwise decision? It wasn't the view from the drive in, it was a flying reptilian.

Enter me: 6'3", 240 pounds, tough, sledgehammer wielding, all-around-good guy. Pan to the enemy. A six-foot platform made of galvanized steel with a wood deck. The deck is fastened to the steel by way of some weather-weakened screws. It's Guam and the decks are only a hundred yards or so from the beach. Salt water has had it's way with any exposed metal and has turned it into dust.

Well, It's going to take forever to try and remove screws says I; let us pry the boards up. Hmmm. That's going to take a while too... Ok, 15 pound sledgehammer time...

It was going so well; just a swing under the boards would sent them flying six feet into the air. That is until the hammer hit a 12-foot board half eaten by termites. Dozens of geckos and a few thousand small termites flying through the air in a graceful slow-motion toward my face, neck and exposed skin, and a strange wiggle-dance later. The score was local natives-1, tough guy-0.

Oh well, at least my 14-foot coconut-stick worked; soft coconut topped off with a full glass of chilled tangy-sweet coconut water... so good.






P.S. The photo at the top is the road out to the range-which is the large light-green cleared area.

and... for your viewing pleasure... I present the offending platform(s)

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