KERRmputer Bug

Day 10 - May 30

I remember the first time I brought a laptop computer to Kerrville ... though I’m not sure what year that was. I’d bought it second hand from a student of classical lit at UT. I had some assignment I that couldn’t wait until fest was over, so I packed up the laptop and carried it to camp. It had a big rectangular battery pack that popped out for recharging, and would run for about 20 minutes before the low-battery warning started flashing.

I didn’t get much work done that year.

Laptops are much more advanced now. This Macbook is wireless-enabled and can pick up the Internet at several spots in the campground. It’ll run several hours on battery power. Besides, we now have RV spaces here with hookups, and there are electric connections even for tent campers who want to pay for them. I can usually find somebody who will let me plug in to work or recharge my machine.

And when you write under a camp awning in the Hill Country late at night, sometimes insects will crawl across your screen or land on your keyboard. As one did to me two nights ago.

Don’t know what it was exactly. Maybe something in the order Coleoptera. It was narrow, about 3/4” long, a dark shadow on the illuminated keypad. I thought at first it might be a firefly, but it never lit up. It crawled around some, didn’t look too threatening, and I figured I’d flick it off if it got in the way of my typing. Aside from that, I didn’t think much about it. When the words are rolling, I’m good at blocking out distractions.

Not until one of those waking moments in the wee hours of the morning, when odd bits of data float to the top of my consciousness, did I remember the visiting insect. Had I brushed it off? Had it left under its own steam? Or had I closed it up in my laptop and zipped it into the case?

Yesterday got so busy I never fired up the machine at all. When I opened it this morning at Camp Inertia, sure ‘nuff the critter was there: a grayish lump of matter on the keyboard, right about where I had last seen it. It wasn’t exactly smashed, but it looked inanimate. I prodded it gently to see if it was alive. No response. Darn. I should’ve looked before I folded up, been more respectful of life. Oh, well.

“Look!” I said to the folks who were sitting around playing music before breakfast. “A computer bug!” That got a few laughs.

The blob hadn’t moved easily when I prodded it. I figured I’d need a napkin or something to pick it off. I also needed hot water for my tea, so I set the laptop on a chair and wandered over to the stove. When I came back with cup in hand, I was surprised to see the Computer Bug standing up on all six legs, testing the air right and left with jointed antennae. It didn’t look damaged at all, just maybe a little confused.

It made a circuit of the 4 key, rather like a dog that turns around several times before curling up on a mat. It stood there a moment, alive and curious, then unfolded its wings and flew away.