SoCS: Back to…. (oops! Back of the Frig)

 Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “back of the fridge.” Write the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the phrase “back of the fridge.” Enjoy!

Back to the future! Maybe one day, in the future, I’ll hire and exterminator for the waterbugs, aka American cockroaches, like I threaten to do often. I have no problem taking spiders, moths, or beetles outside in a cup. Who knows why the waterbugs creep me out so much. Maybe they freaked my mom out and she passed it on to me like her red hair and soft green eyes.

I haven’t hired an exterminator in spite of frequent threats (like the bugs can hear me), because I think the exterminator chemicals will be toxic to more than bugs. I do have termite contract, but that’s different. They don’t spray.

How does this relate to the prompt? I have to keep all food in the refrigerator, unless it’s canned or tightly wrapped. That includes bananas and the butternut squash they’ve been gnawing on. Gross, I know. If I lived in the mountains, it would not be an issue since I don’t leave food out or open for the smaller German cockroaches. But here in the sub-tropical south, the bigger cousins are prolific. Climate change may be a factor in their abundance, too. I found some old diatomaceous earth and spread it around their pathways. Last night, I put some peppermint out on cotton balls (where Marley can’t reach) along with the citrus spray. The cedar oil spray works, but the smell is awfully strong.

We are now approaching the time of year when a few bugs will come in from the cold, but mostly they die back until late spring. What a relief. I’m determined to leave no food available so maybe they will go back outside and stay there.

“Back to the howling old owl in the woods,” as Elton John sang in “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” Do owls eat bugs? The song says something about them hunting the toads.

As for the toads and frogs, I hope they make it “Back to the River. Back to the Forest!” as Elliot encouraged them in E.T. I love it when the other kids in the classroom start chanting:

“Back to the River. Back to the Forest!“

And then there’s Galadriel telling Sauron to go “back to the void from whence you came!” I think that’s what she’s saying. Perhaps I shall tell that to the nameless ones if they come in through the tiny cracks.

Yeah. Galadriel. The ultimate exterminator. No, that was Frodo. And Sam. They all played a part.

(I just realized that I blatantly misread this prompt as back to the frig, but it was supposed to be “back of the fridge,” which makes more sense as a prompt. Oh well. I must have needed a laugh and Galadriel’s power.)

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For more streamy streams and the ruly rules,

visit our SoCS host, Linda Hill by clicking HERE.

Cure for Boredom: Be Excited about Small Things (or Just Take a Nap)

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “board/bored.” Use one, or use them both for bonus points. Enjoy!

Board: We still have plenty of lose boards in our fence we need to replace. Thankfully, Marley is not aware of our temporary reinforcements.

Bored: Boredom is rare these days. There’s always something to do or watch on TV or read, and naps! It’s wonderful to be able to nap at will now that I’m retired.

Marley our pitsky keeps me from being bored, though sometimes I think Marley is bored. Fortunately, he likes naps, too. He gets two long walks every day in addition to short potty breaks. I usually walk him in the evening and David walks him in the morning. But David walked him twice yesterday because I’ve been feeling run down by a UTI. It’s getting better, but my energy is low. Also, I didn’t realize that feeling dizzy or sleepy could be a side effect of the antibiotic till I looked it up.

Last week, I mentioned in SoCS that I was looking into alternatives for our compost so we don’t attract little animals that could become prey for Marley. The compost bin is fenced off, but animals can apparently get over or through the fence. So, the cool thing is that I just found out the nearby Food Co-op I’m a member of is offering members the opportunity to bring compost there on Saturdays! There might be a discount at the farmer’s market if I bring a pound or more of compost. Today will be my first compost deposit.

Being excited about having a place to take my compost explains why I’m rarely bored anymore. The most exciting thing is the timing. Sometimes we have to wait a while to get what we want, but this happened within two weeks!

Is there something that excites you that doesn’t excite most people?

Here are some other things that have excited me lately:

Fungal Flowers!

Banana Spider

Sun Rays After a Storm

We have an abundance of these spiders. I hope they’re eating mosquitoes.

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For more streams and to learn all about SoCS, visit our host, Linda Hill, by clicking HERE.

Spider Plants, Avocado Trees, and Critters who Belong Outside

Today’s Stream of Consciousness Post is brought to you by Linda G. Hill, author of

All Good Stories, “a romantic comedy with a twist.”

Soon it will be time to bring my outside plants inside. They are really indoor plants, but they like to be out in good weather which we have a lot of here. I just hope they don’t have spiders hiding in them when I bring them in.

For the past two days, I saw a small gecko/lizard/chameleon hopping around my avocado tree on the back deck. I’d rather not have to try to get these little critters outside because I’m always afraid I’ll hurt them. Except for the water bugs, aka Palmetto bugs. Not afraid to hurt them. Yet, they are living things too, so why…..

But back to he plants, because I don’t want to talk about bugs. I have so many spider plants (there I go again with spiders) which some people call airplane plants, though their babies do look like spiders, that I have planted some of them outside. They die off in the winter and come back in the spring. Once I had a poinsettia do that, but only once. Usually the winters here are too cold for a poinsettia to survive. But there was the time when I planted one from Christmas out in my backyard in the spring, and the next spring, a year later, I saw something red out in the yard and had no idea what it was. Lo and behold, it was the poinsettia I had planted a year earlier. It must have been a mild winter. I have one that’s doing very well in a pot outside, but I’ll probably bring that one in and put it in the dark in November to see it it will turn red.

I have two avocado trees in pots that I planted from pits. I’ve had them for many years and cut them back so they will fit in the house. They drop a lot of their leaves, even in the house, in the winter. I’ve been tired of lugging them back in and out of the house, since they like to be outside on mild winter days, so this year, I planted the leggier one outside in a semi sheltered area. I’m going to see it it will survive. I’ll probably cut it way back and cover it on freezing days like people do with banana trees around here. Who knows, with climate change/global warming, maybe I could grow avocados.

(Not saying climate change is good. It’s bad. And it’s real. But that’s another story.)

Today’s prompt was “in/out.” Linda directed us to “use one, use both, use ’em any way you’d like.”

Here are the SoCS rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!