A Sunday Walk With Grandpa Chib

Written by Gerard on Monday 3 September 2007

Despite our best laid plans to go out for the day on Sunday, Lisa wasn't feeling well, so it looked like we'd have to stay at home. Instead, I gave my Dad a call and asked him if he fancied going out for the day. It took a bit of arm twisting, but he eventually relented.

We took a drive round the North Antrim coast to Glenarm and went for a walk. Glenarm's got a real olde worlde feel to it, and despite the ravages of modern technology, it still looks much the same as it did in the days of yore.

Today's outing involved cameras for all, and Rachel and Jake enjoyed taking photos of the church and of the river from the bridge. We stopped for a quick ice-cream (eaten tidily by everybody except Jake, who wore a dripping mint-choc-chip beard by the end), and went for a walk in the forest.

We let Daniel out of the pram and all three shot off ahead, armed with sticks to chop at the nettles with. Down the path, we came across a log bridging the river, and I decided to have a go at walking across it. Not to be outdone, Chib (who's pushing 65) decided to dander across it too. After a few heart-stopping wobbles, he actually managed to make it over and back without falling in.

I stopped further down the path to take a few pictures of the forest. There was some good light breaking through the trees I wanted to capture. When I'd finished I caught up with the others and noticed something stuck to the back of Chib's jumper. At first, I thought it was a leaf that had caught on him, but as I got closer I noticed a movement from it and realized it was a massive insect.

Honestly, this was probably the biggest insect I've ever seen outside of the giant ones in the insect drawer at the Ulster Museum. It must've been about two inches long and was orange and black - not stripy like a wasp, but big blocks of colour. I called out to him to stop and as I examined the insect on his back, he looked incredulously at me. He thought I was joking.

So, I turned to the kids and said "Look at Grandpa's jumper". The moment they saw it, they both screamed, which gave me a bit more credibility. I grabbed one of Jake's sticks and went to knock the beast away. The thing seemed to bristle as I got nearer, the wings starting to buzz and its tail end - complete with pointy stingy bit - raised up.

I gave it a quick flick with the branch I was holding and it fell to the ground where Chib was able to get a proper look at it. Jake decided he was going to bludgeon it like the savage he is, but after a couple of misses, it flew away. None of us were able to identify it. And of course, in the heat of the moment I forgot that I could easily have taken a photo of it. Dammit.