Last summer I was haunted by an orb weaver spider. As most who know me have experienced, I am afraid of spiders to the point that even ones the size of a pin head cause me to become squeamish. (Although let the record show that I leave them alone unless I have absolutely no recourse otherwise because I know that spiders are extremely beneficial.)
I first discovered the unfortunate (for me) placement of the web as I walked out one night to get something out of my car. My hair was wrapped up in a towel to dry. As the towel came in contact with the web, it felt like someone was removing Velcro. I can still feel it! It was then, that I first met my nemesis of the summer. It was no bigger than my pinky but had spun a web that spanned from one tree to the next across my driveway (10 ft across).
Every sunset, without fail, it would spin its web in the same place. Every morning at sunrise, it would begin eating its web and would hide somewhere up in the tree. I would walk into the street and around the web to get in my car. I would keep my eyes on it every time I stepped outside. I would shine my flashlight on it as I returned home from walking my dog. It was always there. Waiting.
This ritual lasted until mid- to late October (it felt like an eternity) when the spider was the size of a half dollar and it got too cold to live anymore.
Fast forward a year...
One of its decedents (not verified by fact yet) has decided to construct a web in the exact same place, using the exact same trees, and is the size of my pinky. I discovered it by walking right into it this morning on my way to work. Ugh! So...
Here we go again (and I'm none to happy about it).
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