In Colorado, from about October 1 through May 1 or roughly for about six months out of the year, we hermetically seal ourselves away from the harsh winters and nature. And even in the summers we take great pains to keep ourselves comfortable if we are inside. Generally speaking, we Coloradoans love to play in the outdoors, but we live indoors. There is a very clear line between indoors and outdoors. When sealing ourselves away we literally look for leaks of air and try to close them up using various methods. And this is smart. It is expensive to heat and cool a house. There is only a brief time in spring and fall when you could just keep your doors open and feel as comfortable inside as out, but most people don’t. It is set up to be either indoor or outdoor and so that’s just how it is.

So living here in Puerto Rico now where most days it is around the ideal temperature that we try to replicate in Colorado in our cars, offices and homes, it is very tempting to just leave the windows and doors wide open. Indoors and outdoors are basically the same. The lines here are much more blurred. Sure, you can get air conditioning and attempt to seal yourself in, but there is just much less of a point to it. It is mild summer weather nearly all the time.

The weather starts out cooler in the early morning, around 75, and progresses to a peak temperature of about 90 by about 3pm. That’s when we have been heading to the beach and swimming to cool down a bit. But even the sea water is about the same nice warm temperature as outside. In  or out of the water, both feel great.

Then the storms have been rolling in and everything cools down again. At dusk, the jungle comes alive and you can hear all the bugs and frogs, birds and bats beginning their “day”. We have screens on our windows now to keep the mosquitoes or random bee out and we usually close the doors to the cabana at dusk. But last night it was so cool listening to the rain and all the jungle awakening that we just left the doors wide open. When the rains stopped, Britton went to sit on the top of the cabana and I laid in bed reading with the doors still open.

Kitty heard a rustling noise outside and jumped under the covers like he does. I went to pull him out and pet him when I saw this!

It was a huge crab looking spider on the edge of the bed. It wasn’t moving much, but it freaked me out so much that I called Britton in to help me clear off the bed and look for anything else that may just be lying in wait for us. As we were shaking everything out, we found a cockroach!…in our bed! Yuck! We tried to get Kitty to get it but he was scared of the broom.

I know there is a lot of rotting fruit around especially from the huge mango tree above the cabana and so there are probably a lot of cockroaches around. But they just have to be the creepiest creature. I can deal with most spiders (but that crab spider was really ugly) and even snakes, but the cockroaches, man they are huge here and some of them even fly! I don’t know if I will ever get used to them. I had never seen one in Colorado, ever. Talk about being “sheltered”, literally. Thankfully we don’t see them very often in the cabana but the few times we have is too many.

Creepiest creature contest winner

So after that experience I was still squirming with chills running down my back as we removed the cucaracha and started to put the bed back together when Britton says, “Whoa, what’s that?!” and I was not looking forward to what could possibly be worse than what I had already seen. When we see a little tiny frog jumping. Britton caught it with a glass and we looked at it.

A coquí! They are rarely seen because they are so small and quick, but apparently last night was the night that every creature of the jungle decided to form a welcoming committee and visit our little cabin. Coquís are the source of the whistling “Co-Key” sound at night and an emblem of Puerto Rico. Yes, Puerto Rico was welcoming us! A good omen. Don’t worry. Everything will be all right. It seemed to remind us.

I was so happy to see this little guy that it ALMOST made up for the other visitors of the evening. Life in la jungla. I guess we need to remember to shut our doors at dusk or be prepared for all sorts of interesting visitors. So while the weather feels the same indoor and out, I am not quite prepared for all the creepy crawly wildlife just yet. And maybe we just need to get screen doors, too.