much too early for such strangeness...

I got up before 6:00 this  morning to get some stuff organized for going to day camp at the park. When I went in the kitchen, I noticed at least a half dozen little inch long milipedes crusing around on the tile floor. I got the broom and dust pan to sweep up, but since they were mostly alive, decided to open the front door and toss them instead of putting in the trash to have them climb out during the day.

After I closed the door, and put the broom back in the pantry, I turned around to find six or eight more little wormy things scooting along the tiles. So I swept them up too. And shook them out of the dustpan into the flower bed. And put my broom and dustpan away. Only to turn around and see more milipedes either scooching across the tiles or curled up in a little curli-cue. So I swept a third time, hoping that was all, and I could move on to my original organizing plan. Only to set them free, and look around to find more milipedes.

This is crazy! Are they reproducing faster than I can sweep, or using those multiple feets to sneak back in faster than I can sweep and put them out?  I got the bug spray out and gave a quick squirt along the bottom edge of the pantry and outside the front door, hoping to create a barricade to end the infestation. Or at least slow them down so I can get other things accomplished.

Having swept them up six times, it was time to quit, give up, admit defeat in order to 'drain the swamp' and move on with finding all my stuff to go to camp, so they could practice/learn to sew buttons. One of the things I wanted to get ready for little girls was making some 'sewing cards', with holes punched in index cards and yarn for them to thread through the holes, with big plastic needles. So here I am punching holes, and cutting yard to tie on the cards - and look down to see even more milipedes all over the floor! Arrggh. So I go to get the broom, highly frustrated and thoroughly aggravated, to sweep again. Only to discover that these milipedes are little bits of black and brown yard I had snipped and scattered: looking just right, the perfect size, color and shape of the dozens of milipedes I had been battling for half an hour!