What’s in that Hole?

This morning is a lazy day. I’m not going to do much. I have a little laundry that needs to be done. I will catch up on the Sunday morning political shows, Meet the Press, Chris Matthews. I will watch Sunday Morning, a program that John and I enjoyed for many years. The stories are entertaining. I will snack until dinner, when I will boil some pasta. I will finish the book I’m reading. I may work on an outline idea for a training course I’d like to leave behind.

Neil brought some bananas for me today. Two bunches of them. I have over fifteen bananas. I’ll be eating a lot of bananas this week! The children in the neighborhood come over – they will be eating bananas too. I’m surprised I haven’t seen them yet. My house is a gathering place for village children who are bored and looking for someone to talk to.

As I’m doing my laundry I decide to try to put the clothes on the line that hangs over the back balcony. The line is high and a few inches from the railing so it’s difficult for me to reach. I went into the kitchen to retrieve the box of clothes pins that Elizabeth and John left for me to use. As I’m hanging my brown shorts on the line, I see something out of the corner of my eye. It’s moving. It’s in the yard below…and it’s not Spike, the dog. I look closely. There is a hole in the dirt and it went in there. It’s probably a gopher, but I want to confirm it.

Everything stops. I wait. I know the creature will peak through the dirt again. And it does. It’s slowly coming out. I can’t quite make out what it is. It peaks through and then goes back in. I’m patient. Heck, I’m a Peace Corps Volunteer. I have two years. And then it comes through the dirt. First one claw, then another reaches up to pull its red body into full view. I can’t believe it. It’s a five minute walk to the beach. Is this a pet? Can this thing live in this hole? I look outside my windows. I see holes in the banana tree garden next door. Do these creatures live amongst the banana trees too? I run to retrieve my camera. There it is, fully digitized: a crab.Why do you think there is a crab in Elizabeth’s garden? This mystery needs to be solved. I will put this mystery on my agenda for next week.