Sunday, September 20, 2009

Randomness

I realized I've collected some rather odd photos with the intent of sharing them with you. For one reason or another, I never got around to it, so I thought I'd take advantage of a relaxing Sunday evening to catch up. Here goes...




ALONG CAME A SPIDER




A few weeks ago we had a Discovery Channel situation on the front porch. A rather large spider took up residence. I wish I had a photo that could give some frame of reference as to how insanely HUGE this spider really was. The best I can say is that he/she could take up most of the face of a quarter. And maybe have its legs hanging off a little. Its web was about the size of a small pizza. So, it was no wonder that a spider of this size would need a fairly good sized meal -- such as this poor bug who had the misfortune of getting caught in the aforementioned pizza-sized web. The boys and I came home one afternoon to this sight. "Charlotte" (yes, I named it) having a nice snack. We all stood there in silence, never having actually witnessed something like this live and in person. Discovery Channel? Yes. Our own home? Not so much.


The funny/freakish part of taking the photos was that, even though I was using a lens that provides awesome close-ups, I was leaning in quite far to get a good shot of Charlotte and her snack. When I leaned in, she may have had the wrong impression that I was trying to sneak a bite. She reared up on her back legs and waved her front legs at me. Repeatedly. This? Freaked the boys out. They were all, "Mom! Be careful!" I laughed and was touched by their concern -- until one of them said, "What if she jumps on you?!" I have to admit, that thought never crossed my mind. Do spiders jump? Can they jump? I didn't want to stick around and find out. We quickly snapped photos from far away and went in the house for our own afternoon snack.


We realized Charlotte mainly came out in late afternoon/early evening, then went up to the corner of the porch overnight. This information came in handy early one morning when I instinctively went after Sid (the cat) who had snuck out the door as we were loading up for school. In my haste, I ran right through Charlotte's web, taking the lower half out with my head. It was 7:15am, so rather than let go with a scream shrill enough to wake the neighbors as well as the dead, I grabbed the cat and ducked back in the house. In the privacy of our front room, I tore off my sweatshirt, bent over at the waist and began shaking my hair out. I prayed Charlotte hadn't come down for an early morning sit on her web, as I raked my fingers through my hair. Good news! No spider hair accessories that morning!


Then, one day we came out and Charlotte was gone. I mean really gone. As in, she tore up her web and went elsewhere. She may have had enough of me, my picture taking and rampant near-destruction of her home.




SERIOUSLY,... ARE YOU EVEN TRYING?


This one's just so awful. I've got nothing.




TWENTY OR SO YEARS DOWN THE ROAD...

...he may be in the same position in his dorm room. Jeff says he'll be surrounded by books, where he crashed after pulling an all-night study session. Me? I have a slightly different prediction. (And, yes, after taking the photo I gently pried his chubby little legs out from between the spindles.)

YOU PEOPLE ARE KILLIN' ME.


Do you see how much syrup is left in the bottle? Why?! Why does this make it back into the fridge?

1 comment:

Lindy said...

Just reading about your potential spider in the hair incident made me want to rip off my shirt and make sure I didn't have one in my hair.

Gross.

And you are a better woman than I - I would have killed it.