Bugs and Pregnant Women

In the winter it's expected that a lot of insects go south, south meaning in the ground. Although the amount of insects decreases during the cold winter months, you still see some. However, since I have been in Japan I have hardly seen any insects, at all. It's not even that cold, at least not in the region that I live in. This bothered me for some reason and I found myself looking at the ground when I walked looking for any sign of life. I hate bugs, all of them-- except for ladybugs. This was getting to me though. I just wanted to see a goddamn bug. One day I walked into a swarm of nats and I got excited but nats are so boring. 

Another thing I noticed about Japan was that it seemed that bugs and pregnant women had something in common. No, pregnant women didn't go south for the winter but they were non-existent. Once I noticed that I had yet to see a pregnant women I started seeking them out, the same way I did with the bugs.  I began to size up any Japanese female with any sign of weight in their belly region, which was rare because most Japanese women are really thin. 

When spring finally made her appearance my search for bugs became more intense and I gave up on pregnant women. The opposite thing happened though. Instead, the warm weather brought out the pregnant gals rather than the bugs. I jokingly suggested to a Japanese classmate that pregnant women hibernate in Japan and she seriously confirmed that I was correct. I started seeing more and more pregnant bellies but still no bugs. 

Then last week, Becca was out biking around and she was attacked by mosquitoes. For some reason I was happy about this, not about her unbearable itching but the fact that there are signs of life here. Then last night I saw a small black spider in the living room. Once again I was quite happy about this. I hate spiders and bugs but for some reason it seemed weird that I hadn't seen a bug in months. I know they all have their purposes in the world but I guess I just got used to them bugging me. Ha!