Aractaphobia

I think that's how you spell it.....fear of spiders. I'm not too fond of spiders myself but can handle the micro-mini species and can take a daddy long legs before dealing with a centipede. I've taken on a couple of those nasty things in my lifetime and many have met their demise in my hands while others have laughed at me as they scurried away. They don't walk....they scurry. I would too if I had 100 legs.

Anyways, to get back to the subject of spiders. For some reason down here in Tennessee, spiders LOVE the night time. At least, that is when they do their best work. You can go to bed without a spider or web in sight outside and you wake up to THIS!

This morning I was roaming outside (in my jammies) in the early dawn snapping these pictures. At first I thought, oh cripes....we've been invaded but then the more I looked at them, I realized they are totally amazing. I mean, can you imagine how long it took a spider to build this? The one above spanned from our garage over our sidewalk and was attached to a nearby bush. We are talking FEET big! After really scoping it out and realizing that the owner of this web was not on it, I ducked under it as others caught my eyes. Note: One morning the resident of this creation was at home and I took him or her on with the first thing I could grab....a spray container of doggie odor remover. It was a direct hit but did not leave he or she paralyzed, stunned or even better yet....murdered. It ran up to the top of the web by the corner of the garage. Guess I have to arm myself with a better weapon.....maybe some spray for INSECTS....ya think? At least he or she left smelling fresher than when he or she arrived. (How do you tell a boy from a girl with spiders? And, no I am not going to catch one and tip it upside down to check.)

Our tree at the end of our driveway. This is what I call a 'spider high rise'.

Here is where it really gets creepy. Overnight, they will practically encase Grandpa's truck in webs. On the side mirror.......

Coming down from the top of the antenna, attached to a nearby bush and to the truck door. Sometimes, it gets a little tricky getting into our vehicles.

The bushes outside our front door. These were sort of strange....they were hanging there looking like upside down parachutes.

Grandpa says that they are always there but because of the dew in the early morning, they are more visible. Ah....that sort of make sense because there have been times after the sun comes up that I have found myself walking through a web that I didn't see while trying to get into my car. Poor Shelly. She leaves really early in the morning with the girls and she has had to really watch out for them. In addition, the girls aren't fond of them either and their ear screeching screams can be sort of loud in the early morning quiet hours. The other morning I was out there with a broom brushing them off her car (again in my jammies) so she and the girls could get in.

To sum it up, it is kind of creepy to wake up and find your yard full of webs but then again, it is Mother Nature at her best. As long as they stay outside......