Spider

I was going through my past blog posts and discovered a few that I apparently started years ago, and saved as drafts, but never finished, and never posted.  So since we're getting ready to make one of our trips up North in a few weeks, and stay with Dad, I thought I'd just go ahead and post this old one.  It's just such a typical day at Dad's.

(From September 24, 2006)

We're visiting here "up North", where we spend several months each year staying with my dad. So yesterday morning I was downstairs making coffee, talking with Dad as he made his breakfast, and he said, "Oh by the way, did you happen to look out the dining room window?" No, I said. "Go take a look," he said. So I did and what I saw was a spider the size of a small frog resting comfortably in the middle of a gigantic web strung on the outside of the window. Whoa. Big fella. Well we both admired the workmanship of the web, with its perfect spoke design and all, but mostly I was grossed out by the size, form and up-closeness of Spider Kong. I don't like bugs, especially spiders. But even though it gave me the heebie jeebies, I admit I was fascinated. While we watched, he pushed off from his perch, repelled downward on a tiny thread from his butt, hastily repaired a flaw in the web, and ascended back up the thread to his resting spot. Smooth and efficient. So I called upstairs to my husband. "Hey, Honey, you gotta come down here and see this spider. It's huge!" "Just a minute", he said. In a few moments he appeared, holding two cans of insect spray, one in each hand like six-shooters. "Where is it?" he demanded.
"No, no, it's outside," I said, "Look here". He looked, but was unimpressed with our admiration. He kept insisting he could go outside and blast him to kingdom come with one shot. I admit that would normally be my own reaction, but I had too much respect for this guy. And besides, I was comforted by the fact that this particular spider was actually too big to get in through any cracks he might find.

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