Aah! This is the Life!

I was sitting reading a book in the shade.

The kids were playing on a "spider web" - a large play structure with a series of ropes webbed on one or more poles. The first time they played on one of these, I feared for their lives. But I got over it. There's always sand below to break their fall.

I was sitting on a bench under a tree. Delicate yellow flowers gently fell from the tree. There was a gentle breeze blowing my hair. My hair tickled my neck and shoulders. I pictured myself - sunny day, kids playing, shady tree, hair flowing in the breeze, yellow flowers falling on me and all around me. I thought, "This is the life!"

I had a white shirt on. I noticed a little black spot moving on my shirt. It was a tiny bug. I let it crawl onto my finger and looked at it closely. I was careful not to squish it. Teeny tiny bug. Little legs crawling.

Then I noticed another little bug just like it on my pants and another on my shirt. I focused my eyes. There were bugs on my legs, my feet, my toes, my book, my arms, my shoulders. My hair wasn't flowing in the wind and tickling my neck - there were bugs on my neck and in my hair. Suddenly everything tickled. Little legs crawling.

The delicate yellow flowers ... each one was covered with these bugs. I walked away from the bench and the tree and into the sun. I tried to brush off my clothes and shake my hair. I squished more bugs than I brushed away.

Aah! This is the Life!