Tad's Life

House flies.

Ugly little buzzy things. Harmless really. They don’t bite or sting or attack us humans. But they sure are irritating. When I was growing up, in spite of screens, we’d have to deal with them occasionally. A fly swatter was sufficient. They felt somehow dirty to me, but they were within the limits of reasonableness.

Here in Senegal it is fly season. No, really. After 9 months of dry without any real rain to moisten the ground, we have had a series of rains for the last month. I may have to revise my statements about Dakar rain always coming in gully-washer downpours. We had one of those, it’s true, but the rest have been rather civilized gentle rains.

Be that as it may, rain brings with it flies. Our house filled up with them this week. We took time some days to kill dozens and dozens with our leather, Amish fly-swatter, culling their ranks just to make meal time possible. Jane even too the swatter with her to defend herself while she and Antoinette did first-aid with the talibé outside in their shelter!

But I must tell you that when I walked home from the Phare today, [Mom, have I told you that I’m walking home several times a week? It’s just over a mile and I work up a good sweat and I’m sure it’s good for my heart health!], I experienced flies in a different kind of way. An emotionally out of bounds way. Visceral, I believe the word is.

You see, my path from below the lighthouse near the ocean across the hill to our neighborhood goes through one of the few undeveloped areas on the peninsula. And as anyone who has traveled in a poorer city can tell you, vacant lots are never empty. They are always filled with garbage. Not trash, thank you. Household garbage! Now during the dry season, it isn’t so bad. Low humidity and hot sun quickly render organic materials into a state that is mostly odorless and only mildly offensive.

But when the rains come, my, oh, my.

And where there is wet, organic waste, there are flies. Many, many, many flies, clustering and swarming and making enough noise in community to make you think of much larger beasties from your nightmares. Be glad I didn't have my camera with me to get video!

Now I’ve been walking this path for many years. It didn’t used to have much garbage. The houses were too far away. But my straightest path (you can see its trace on Google Earth if you look at the empty field in the middle of the photo here) goes right behind where many of the talibé live. Due east down the gentle sloping hill from Mamelles on towards ASECNA and COMICO. I love this walk.

Today, when I lifted my eyes up and ignored the flies and the smell of garbage, I had such a vista to behold. Rain clouds were rolling in from the interior of the continent. They were spread from north to south in one wide band. The air was crystal clear and blues and purples were so very vivid. And I could feel the enormity of this globe. My spirit was refreshed. My thoughts moved to the Lord. And though I didn’t forget the flies, they did fall into perspective.

God is good. I hope you get a glimpse of Eternity today, too.

PS [ You Google Earth fans can try 14°43'41"N; 17°29'39"W if you want to see the path!]