Summer in Morris Island looks strikingly different compared to when we visited a few months ago in spring. Silhouettes from the verdant treetops drenched the causeway.
"Beautiful." our group enthused.
"We need to find a donation box to drop the money." The husband urge.
His childhood best friend motioned, "Here, near the entrance."
We gathered around the narrow donation box, but to our horror, we weren't alone. Forest tent caterpillar moths, or til-as in the Cebuano language, were also crawling in the box. In fact, the area is infested. Oh no!
The photo below might look peaceful, but be careful, a hairy caterpillar might fall on you without warning. Yikes.
My vision of taking a photo under the canopy of lush vegetation popped. Immediately, the hubby developed phantom hives. He was itching for something that's not.
"Eeeek!" Jean shriek when a caterpillar moth slipped from a treetop branch, barely missing her head.
When the hubby heard what transpired, he pronks to an open area like a gazelle running away from a predator. You see, he isn't agile. But certain situations awaken dormant abilities in him. Here's another way of saying it, his flight response got activated in a moment of fear.
Interestingly another group with a pack of dogs, went ahead of us wearing only tank tops. Aren't they concerned? Oh well, better worry about what's on our plates first.
When we reach the end of the causeway, we decided to take a small trail. Going deeper unprepared -- we didn't apply insect repellants before coming -- huge mosquitoes feasted on our flesh. It was annoying but I didn't think much of it until the next day when the bites turned red and itchy.
Thankfully, this soothing gel help alleviates the after-effects.
We stop by a few viewing areas in the trail to rest and take photos like below. The water is calm, mirroring the sky above.
There's a lesson we could learn here. Heaven's peace could prevail in our hearts when it is calm and at rest.
On the way back, everyone held their breath. To get to our car, we'll have to go through the hairy-caterpillar-infested canopy of trees again. Oh, dear.
The hubby speedwalk to the parking lot, carrying the little boy in his arms. Our friend, Jean, followed suit pushing the kid-stroller while me and Jerbie, lag behind to take more photos.
I gulp when a saw one til-as (that's the forest tent caterpillar moth) dangle by a single thread. Thankfully, nobody is tall enough to knock it out. Like the hubby, I brisk walk to the parking lot to avoid them falling bugs.
Phew, we survived!
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Summer at Morris Island Conversation Area is beautiful, but I wouldn't recommend going there unprepared. I prefer visiting in spring, before the leaves sprouts. Fall is best. Winter is an interesting time to come too.