Heebie-Jeebies

I was still a little woozy yesterday afternoon when I moved my head in just the right, well, wrong really, way, so for good measure I picked up some drops for my ears before dinner and after dinner I put some of the solution to work.  As the oil made its way down into my ear canal the feeling brought back an awful memory I hadn’t thought of for a long time which of course I have to share with you now.

Don’t read any further if you get the heeby-jeebies.

I think it was about a year ago or more when I was riding my bike a lot in Portland and this particular occasion I was just leaving the gym.  I put my helmet on and before I even rode half way down the block I felt something inside my helmet.  It was enough that I had to stop and take my helmet off and wave and pat my hands around my head.  Thinking the matter settled I put my helmet back on and continued my ride home, but with a soft rustling sound in my right ear all the way.

Once home I asked Ella to take a look inside and she couldn’t see anything, but I kept hearing a weird soft scratching sound.  I looked up what it could be and was not happy to confirm what I expected, it was likely a bug.  I won’t bore you with the small attempts I made but jump right into the main scene.

All the advice I could find on line said to pour mineral oil into the ear canal and wait.  Well, I didn’t have to wait long.  I laid on my side on the couch with a towel and Ella poured the oil in and within seconds I could hear and feel something making it’s way out of my ear in search of air.  The worst part was when I could feel it crawling on the outside of my ear and poor Ella could see it happening.  We both cried “Eeeeeewwwwww!” And I am sure many other noises one would make when feeling or seeing what turned out to be an earwig crawl out of one’s ear.

At least it was out, but oh my goodness it was the heebiest and jeebiest thing I have ever experienced.  They say, well, a google search says that “The superstition that earwigs crawl into peoples ears is unfounded.”  I am here to tell you that it is in fact founded and sadly founded by me.  And that the name ‘earwig’ comes from the Old English word ‘earewiga’ which means ‘ear creature’ leads me to believe I am not the only one this has happened to.

I couldn’t let this experience go untold so quickly texted my siblings to share in the ick and all three replied perfectly with throw up emojis and likeminded exclamations of gross-out-ed-ness.   Andy even called, needing a play by play recap, which was both fun and frightening reliving it all again, but of course ended with us both crying with laughter.  I love my siblings more than my luggage.

Thankfully nothing crawled out of either ear last night or this morning.  A bug did fly into my eye the other night but came out without too much hassle.  That was gross, too, don’t get me wrong, just not as gross.

We’re off for a drive inland today in hopes of seeing some larger creatures like monkeys, sloths and birds.  May we all keep a healthy distance from each other.

I’ll keep you posted. But I definitely won’t post a picture of an earwig. Instead, I give you the iguana we’ve named Iggy.