Unlike Miss Muffett’s experience, the spider didn’t sit down beside me. I sat down beside it, on the porch swing. I didn’t notice it at first because it was so small, maybe l/4 of an inch. When I did see it, I wasn’t sure at first just what kind of insect I was looking at. As it turned out, I wasn’t staring at an insect but an arachnid. I’ve seen plenty of spiders but never one like this one. His body was a shiny gold and in front were two black specks. I suspect those black specks were fangs.
I asked him politely if he’d mind having his picture taken and he didn’t answer so I took that as a yes. Only thing is, my camera wouldn’t cooperate. It kept focusing on the background and not the spider. Therefore, the spider photos show a fuzzy gold blob with two black dots at one end. A person had to use her imagination to see a spider in the picture. Another thing I noticed–that tiny creature could jump at least four inches. He was not only beautiful, he was an acrobat as well as an architect. Spiders spin the most beautiful webs and they do it without pre-planning, it just comes naturally. Oh, that I could spin mysterious tales that effortlessly!
We inhabit the world with lots of unusual, beautiful, talented creations of the Lord. I think He must have had a good time when He thought up that spider. Our Creator must surely have a sense of humor and lovingly placed lots of living things, including spiders and trees, in the Garden of Eden where everyone and everything lived in peace until the snake came along. But that’s another story.
Sad to say, the usual response to a spider is a shrill scream and a rise in blood pressure. True, spiders are to be respected and a couple of them, the black widow and brown recluse are dangerous indeed. But they also do a lot of good things like spinning webs to capture those pesky mosquitoes and flies.
People have spun tales and poems about spiders for years. Miss Muffett, The Spider and the Fly, Eensy Weensy Spider. Spiders haven’t done anything to deserve such vile reputations. A spider is just a spider and we should expect nothing else from it.
I’m thinking of how I could use a spider in a mystery–someone who pretends to be something she isn’t and then is caught in a web of her own making. Should I name it The Spider’s Web or The Web of the Spider?
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