Toad in the Room

I moved rooms and I no longer have a screen door.  I'm not too bothered by bugs so I leave the door open because of the heat. This turned out to be an unwise choice when I left my room last night. I had noticed the toad on my doorstep, hovering in the shadows.  When I returned the toad was now inside my door.  Any movement from me would scare him further inside.  While I was trying to figure out how I could get him to turn round or back out, he disappeared under my bed.  It panicked me further when I couldn't find him under the bed. There was no way I was going to spend the night with a toad lurking somewhere in my room.

With the help of a flashlight, I finally found him hiding behind some furniture. Dropping things on him did not budge him from his position. I finally prodded him with a broomstick while standing on the bed.  Of course I couldn't guarantee what direction he would jump in. I had to get over my fear that he would jump out at me, and I got down at his level.  Using a series of prods, pokes and sweeping actions I got him to hop out the door.

The toad just reinforced my feeling that civilization is not successfully wiping out the forest. Not only do creeping vines grow over everything, but plant life appears as if by magic everywhere.

There is a whole cactus garden on the roof.  And the ants quietly take over the lower levels.  They carry and pile up dead vegetation and increase the piles with what they bring out of the earth.  They will build homes in the most unlikely places; on well worn paths, doorways and up trees. The termites eat through the wooden homes and the humidity crumbles the mortar. The red earth covers everything with a layer of dust, it stains and sets hard when wet, and leaves its mark on anything man constructs.
We clean, sweep, cut and clear...but the forest strikes back.