Things that go bump in the night

Oh the tricks the mind can play in the middle of the night...last night was super hard for me. Lucas passed out early after a full day of visiting a live bat exhibit (I have always loved bats and now am even more in awe) and a 2 mile hike around the Children's Eternal Rainforest (a preserve outside of Monte Verde that kids from 44 countries raised money to preserve). Matt and crawled into bed around 9:30pm. The wind was still howling - there has been no break from it. It has been blowing hard for 3 straight days and nights. I put ear plugs in (as usual) because of the noise from the wind and also snores from my fellow sleep mates :) Around midnight, Stella, the farm German Shepherd, started barking and barking. Here we are - in an old, drafty house, on a small dirt road, no one in the main house, wind howling so we can't hear anything, no one knows where we are, and I started freaking out. I got out of bed to try to see down the hill to the car in the driveway only to find that the door in the bedroom that leads to the balcony had blown open while we were sleeping. Out on the balcony I got pummeled with sideways rain and couldn't see anything through the swaying trees.

I got back in  bed and my mind started spinning. The mama bear in my was in full swing - how am I going to protect Lucas if something were to happen? I felt so completely vulnerable and powerless. Every knock of a branch blowing against the house tightened the muscles in my back even more. I could not stop imagining the worst. I don't have any clothes up here for Lucas; our shoes are downstairs with the cell phone; I don't know how we will get out of the house from up here; will we know which way to go through the woods to get to a neighbors house? It was awful.

I haven't been this freaked out at night since one night about 10 years ago...Matt was out of town. So, it was just Che and me. I woke up in the middle of the night to the very distinct sound of footsteps in the basement. I crept to the kitchen, got a knife, and opened the basement door. Che stood at the top of the stairs growling (this did not help my fear!). I finally switched on the basement light and heard very fast footsteps. As Che and I stood there, adrenaline pumping through every inch of my body, Xena, our very small cat, finally came into view. She was the culprit, walking around on the thick, brown paper the contractors had laid to cover and protect the carpet during some construction down there. It took me over an hour to calm down and go back to sleep.

The same with last night. I finally woke Matt up. I cried while he rubbed my back. The more time passed between Stella's barking and nothing bad happening, the more at ease I felt. Little Lucas slept soundly and safely through it all. I finally went back to sleep. I was happy to see Lucas's sweet face looking at me this morning, even though it was at 6:00am! I am sleepy and glad to welcome the morning. We are leaving this old house today, a couple of nights early. The isolation, darkness and wind are driving us to a little cabin at an inn closer to Monteverde. Matt really wants to go where there is more connection to people. I didn't care so much yesterday, but after last night, I can't leave soon enough! Lucas is the only bummed one. He loves exploring all that this old house has hidden for him to find.

Everyone here is shocked by the wind. I don't think wind itself is uncommon in this region, but what is happening now is anything but normal. I can only imagine the havoc the wind and rain are causing the coffee farmers as the harvest is over and they are in the process of drying the coffee. It must be very difficult. No doubt they wish they could flee, too.