Arachnophobia? Not me!

I noticed a post that commented on disliking spiders. I must admit that I am not very fond of these odd, hairy creatures either, but...

A not very good scan on the left, shows, if you look very hard, the beauty of a spider's web. They are fascinating things to look at, best seen when said spider is not in residence, and especially lovely when gleaming with dew drops, when they tend to look like crystal Christmas decorations slung between branches on trees. They can also form a sticky barrier when spun across the front verandah and one unwittingly walks into them. It takes forever to become unstuck, so I can imagine how impossible escape must be for an insect unfortunate enough to be caught. This ability to adhere is why they were/are sometimes used as wound dressings. They don't come off!
Peg Maltby, in her Fairy Book had a wonderful painting of the Cobweb Lace Wedding Dress. I have hunted high and low for a copy of said picture to post, but have had no luck to date.


In the picture above is a 'huntsman' spider. In my youth I would go completely hysterical if a spider came within six feet of my, and as you know, it is sometimes hard to spot a spider from this distance, but I always knew when one was around. Urk!! However, I 'grew up' and had children, and realised that I should not pass on my phobias to them so I learned to pretend that spiders were not a problem, indeed they were our friends, because they caught germ laden flies and ate them, and were really rather useful creatures. (I also learned to quell a very real fear of thunderstorms for the same reason). Time and again somebody in the house would point out where a hunstman spider had taken up residence and with a shudder I would say: 'It's okay, kids. He will catch the mosquitoes. Leave him be' And there he would stay, safe as houses as long as I could see him. It was when he disappeared that I became paranoid. If the creature was foolish enough to enter my bedroom it had to be removed. And who had to remove the critter? Brave me! Himself heartily dislikes spiders, the boys always said that I was such a good spider catcher they wouldn't even try! Up the ladder, or on the chair, wide mouthed jar in hand, I would carefully, nervously, inch the container towards the spider and wham! there it was, rearing up and threatening to have me for breakfast if I should just let it go.
A piece of cardboard carefully slipped under the container, a quick tip upside down and voila! one captured spider, duly carried out with great ceremony, to be emptied onto a shrub or dropped onto the ground. Oh, I was so brave!! Until the time a friend was living with us for a few months. She too disliked spiders and she appeared in the family room one night to inform us that a spider - a huge hairy beast - was lurking over her bedroom door and she couldn't get in. Don't be so silly, I scoffed and armed myself with the widenecked jar and chair, and very bravely caught the spider. I descended from my chair and - oh my! 'What did you do with the spider?' I gasped. It was nowhere to be found. A fairly thorough search was fruitless. Perhaps it is on your skirt, suggested the friend. I shook my head and lifted my skirt. It was a very brightly coloured floral skirt and was exceptionally full in shape. Carefully we moved the skirt through our hands and then, there it was, swinging gently from the hem. Oh horror. We both learned to do a quick and noisy tarantella as we headed for the door and outside, where the creature was brushed to the ground with a leafy twig. I must confess to not being quite as brave since this incident, but before I was very brave! I would pick up Daddy Long leg spiders from the bath, where they always seemed to congregate, and fling them aside, hoping that their legs would not come off. But they always did, and lame spiders would hobble in all directions seeking a dark hidey hole. I removed a huntsman spider from my youngsters head without turning a hair, just so that he would not be terrified.
I once, in my terror days, watched a couple of aunts in law play ball with the biggest tarantula/huntsman spider I had ever seen. We were at a family gathering and this foolish creature scuttled across the dance floor, to be scopped up and sent flying through the air by one aunt to the other. She caught it deftly and hurled it back. I was cringing in the corner and screeched when dancing feet squished the poor thing. They thought it was hysterical, especially my hysterics. But, in 'grown up' times, I was having a quick clean up one day, in an area that didn't know what a duster was, and I had to move some old bills to dust properly. As I picked the bills up into my hand there was an explosion of itsy bitsy spiders. I reckon at least a hundred, if not more, and they ran all over the shelf and my hands. Hysteria was lurking, until I spotted a beautiful, white silken circular object, about the size of a twenty cent piece, and realised that, because it was considered a safe place, a huntswoman spider had laid her eggs and encased them in this beautiful silken container. They had been lurking and scattered as I moved the papers. No, I don't think many survived because it was a long time before I saw another hutsman spider, but a short time before I dusted again in that particular spot.

I wonder if, to the right, you can make out the Eiffel Tower. In my not very good photography days, this was taken as the tower was lighting up for the night. It was one of the many magical moments in my life. I tooked as though a billion spiders were spinning molten gold webs around the structure. It was so beautiful, I cried. Amazing what a bit of light on an old metal structure can do. But spiders were the first thing I thought of to describe what I was seeing. I missed the rest of night time Paris, because I was so spectaculared out that I promptly fell asleep in the tour bus. It never does look quite as good in the daylight. Neither does the tower on our Arts Centre. It needs the night lights to show it as a thing of -well almost- beauty.
We are off to Western Australia for a couple of weeks, so I will not be blogging until October. I guess there will be lots of other blog news for me to catch up on when I return. I hope to have some impressive photos to post and share with you.
Cheers everybody.