Spiders, gnats and things

We like to think of our homes as secure, but they're not.  Every morning our window sills are covered with dead insects that were lured inside by the light of the previous evening.  They're little gnat-like things that seem to have an extremely short life cycle.

Last night I went into my bedroom to hang clean clothes in the closet and there on the door was a quarter sized spider.  How did he get in?  Who knows?  My disposition of most anything that creeps or crawls is the same.  I cover it with a glass, slide a thick piece of paper under it, take the intruder outside and let it go.  My karma ought to be pretty clear on the 'killing insects' front.  Not spotless, but pretty clear.

This particular spider was a jumper and was frantically jumping all around in the glass while I was carrying him to freedom.  It reminded me of a baby wolf spider which reminded me of my favorite spider story.

This story is a family classic.  It occurred roughly thirty years ago when my baby sister was paying us her annual summer visit.  At the time, my husband, son and I lived in a teeny tiny rustic cabin in the woods of Indiana.  There weren't any spare bedrooms but there was a loft with a large picture window and a beautiful view of the woods.  This is where my sister wanted to sleep.

The first night she was there we had a powerful thunderstorm, the kind where lightening strikes light up the room and before they fade there are loud bangs of thunder that put your nerves on edge.  A bolt of lightening hit nearby, followed by a bloodcurdling scream.  "Are you afraid to sleep up in the loft because of the storm?" I hollered up to my sis.

"No." she replied.  "I am afraid to sleep in the loft because there is a tarantula on the window."

I'm not sure but I think Jerry squished it.