This reminds me of a time nearly 15 years ago when I lived on the eastern coast of Australia in a little town call Coffs Harbour. It's a beautiful little beach town where you can get KFC and sit on a grassy outcropping and watch the dolphins swim in the ocean. A girl I knew there worked at a little fish and chips shop--sometimes she would hook me up with a greasy bag of chips for free. The mountains in that region are close to the ocean and as a result there is a sub-tropical rainforest there, just a few miles drive from Coffs. Myself and a couple of friends drove out to see it one Wednesday simply because we'd never seen anything like it--we were all from the intermountain west which is pretty much just desert and high mountain desert. In the mountains of Idaho, you need to worry about things like bears and mosquitos and the occasional mountain lion. In the subtropical rainforest, I didn't know what to worry about or watch for simply because I didn't know and I couldn't see past all the green. There is so much green there! My friends and I decided to venture off the trail like a pack of idiots so we could discover the secrets of the forest for ourselves. I don't recommend this unless you enjoy walking though mysterious wet slimy things, enormous spiders, and falling on your ass a lot. One of the girls with us screamed and pointed--I looked back frantically to see what she was on about and realized she was pointing at the ground near my feet. Actually, she was pointing at my feet! Blood! My left athletic sock was crimson red and it simply wasn't registering with me. It was my blood. It was my blood. I panicked and tripped over myself getting back to the main trail so I could assess what was wrong. Between my wet shoes and my courage stood that sock. I knew what I was going to find. There was a spider in there. A funnelweb. I knew it was a funnelweb. Or a redback. I knew it. Cautiously, I slid my shoe off and inspected. Nothing. A twig and some debris, but no spider. I had to examine my sock. I didn't want to, but I knew I had to. through the slick red blood, I noticed something unusual about the shape of my ankle--a bump where there should be no bump. My heart pumped faster and my breath drew short as I rolled down the bloody rag to reveal a mass of black and red slime. Repulsed, I looked away. Had I smashed the spider in my fury? In my rage to escaped the unknown dark forest had I sunk the fangs deeper into my own flesh?
Stephanie drew her courage and came to my aide. She pulled the bloodied sock off and found the intruder. A leech the size of my thumb was still attached, though smashed against my leg.
I haven't been to the rainforest since, though I'd love to get some fish and chips and watch the dolphins.
My KHE Astern is still running strong.
Topic: odyssey clutch: clicking noise when I stop pedaling (Read 34861 times)
