Autumn brings with it many things. The weather changes and the air becomes crisp and clear. The leaves on the trees trade in their greenery for hues of yellow, gold, red and brown. School is back in session and we all fall into a new routine of staying inside, leaving behind our Summer memories. The crops in the fields are ready for harvest, some species of birds begin to head south and small creatures look for warmer places.
One of those small creatures would be the spider. I dislike spiders. Give me a mouse, or even a snake, I would take them, just don't give me a spider.
Years ago, our neighbors moved to the South West. The first time they came back to visit they brought with them a tarantula. Not a dead tarantula, a live one, in a big glass gallon jar. Everyone took great delight in rolling the jar, watching this monster spider run inside like a hamster on a wheel. I even got to take it to school to impress and scare the bejabbers out of my classmates. When the neighbors left and took the spider with them, I had more nightmares about that spider than I care to remember. I was an adult before I could stop sleeping with the sheets and blankets tucked up under my feet. After all, all spiders attack from the bottom of the bed and eat your feet first.
Last year about this time, I opened the drawer on my desk and reached for a roll of stamps. I didn't need to look when I reached, the stamps are always in the same place in the drawer. My husband would say this is the only item I ever put back in the same place twice, but anyway, I knew where the stamps were. As I pulled my arm back, stamps in hand, I looked down and there was a huge spider on top of my hand. I don't know what kind it was and since I nearly turned my chair over trying to get away, I wasn't going to take the time to ask it any questions. It jumped off the desk and took cover where my feet would normally be. See, there is something about feet that spiders like.
I armed myself with a gallon jug of bug spray that I had recently purchased. It had a spray nozzle that could squirt its contents a good four feet and I figured at that distance, if I missed, I still had a four foot head start on the spider. It was lurking behind the waste basket and I managed to move that out of the way with the broom handle. Once the spider was in sight, I let loose with a torrent of bug spray that could have probably killed a ton of spiders, but I didn't care, I was taking no chances, or prisoners. The spider never moved, it just stood there, mocking me. I had to leave the room.
About an hour later I returned to find the spider in the same position. I figured it was either dead or really, really mad and plotting revenge. I took the broom and gingerly made a pass at it and that's when I discovered it had died instantly during its lethal baptism of poison. Still, taking all necessary precautions, I sucked it up with the vacuum.
My least favorite of spiders would be the wolf spider, I'm sure they are first cousins with tarantulas. Not only are they sneaky, they jump. They also have an invisible force field that has the ability to make what ever weapon of choice used against them to land anywhere but on target. One of these nasty creatures of the spider world jumped out of a box when I was helping my daughter move into her new home. We both took cover on the other side of the room and watched it crawl up the wall, it was HUGE. Always wanting to be the protector of my children, I grabbed the dust mop, took aim and swung hard. The mop hit the wall about three feet to the left of the spider.
Stepping on them is not even an option.
I tried to watch the movie "Arachnophobia" once and just could not do it. There was a line in that movie though that I will never forget. "The rule of thumb is, you're always within three feet of a spider." Unfortunately, that's the truth, so if I greet you at the door in a full suit of armor, toting a gallon jug of bug spray, think nothing of it.
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