This morning I was in the mailroom of my building on campus, making a cup of hot cocoa, when another gentleman entered and asked if lost and found was in there. I replied that it was, the box on the windowsill behind the copier, the sign obscured by the many items already piled inside. He dutifully added his own find, then reported that there was a cockroach living among the lost articles.
Naturally, I was intrigued by the prospect of the roach, and went over to investigate, fully expecting that it had long since fled. I figured it would probably be another brown-banded roach if I saw it at all.
Imagine my shock to find an enormous example of an American cockroach, Periplaneta Americana, nonchalantly exploring the terrain of corduroy and denim.
American roaches are anything but, and some speculate that they are the punishment for our collective sin of slavery, having come over from Africa on ships with human cargo. They are at home here mostly in hot, humid situations, conveniently provided by steam heat, sewers, and similar urban niches.
After snapping a few pictures of this one, I found my mind wandering to the Spyro Gyra instrumental “Lost and Found,” from their album Love & Other Obsessions. Not a bad tune to have in your head. Meanwhile, the roach was last seen wearing a scarf, pair of gloves, and a pretty nice corduroy jacket. Someone is going to miss those.
Wow. That guy has some gnarly spikes on his legs!
ReplyDeleteLOL, I love the mental picture of this roach decked out in his scarf and corduroy jacket.
ReplyDeleteOf course the mental image of the owners of said scarf and corduroy jacket when they discover the roach is much more humorous.
I love bugs, too!Spiders, as well. But cockroaches, for some reason, do not fall under my umbrella of affection! I guess it's my early days in NYC, or Boston, apartments, having to deal with them, frantically scattering to and fro, as I turned on a light.Or the terrible worries that I had that we would inadvertently transport some unseen eggs, as we moved to our new, blissfully cockroach-free, rural digs! I know it's unfair, and perhaps irrational...maybe I can learn to love them from afar?
ReplyDeleteAt first sight I thought it was an Oriental cockroach. The biggest roaches I've ever seen were on the Japanese island of Okinawa and in Vietnam. They flew.
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