Evil Beetles and Killing Time

These photos are of the palo verde beetle that has been reeking havoc on my nights during this lovely monsoon season in Tucson. And notice my friends, that the coin is a quarter, not a dime. The larvae are to the left and stay in the ground eating the roots of a palo verde tree until the look like the beetle on the right and crawl their way to the surface leaving a silver dollar sized hole in the ground. Right in front of my door is a tall, stressed palo verde tree perfect for gnawing on. So if I want to leave the house at sunset, I have to battle these creatures. And by battle, I mean scream like a 7 year old girl and wait for them to give me an opening so I can run. You don't want to step on them b/c they're made of titanium armour and are so big you'd probably feel their hearts beating through your shoe moments before you stepped down all the way. Insecticides don't solve anything b/c once they've crawled out of their holes, they're out for good- out and flying around the neighborhood, just barely missing slamming into your windshield to leave a considerable mess. I hate these creatures and am thoroughly happy that our next house doesn't have any palo verde trees that I can recall.

Speaking of the new house, we've got 2 more weeks today until we move in! I've already missed one scheduled day of cleaning, so the refrigerator will have to get done after work along with a section of kitchen floor that the dog food bag has remained stuck to. Yay for packing and moving in with The Boyfriend!