Phantom Silence

I never really gave spiders much thught. Well, actually, I was bit by one when I was ten or so..my whole face swelled up and I had to see the Doctor and take medicine for days. My friends and broters and sisters were amazed every morning that I was still alive. I went to sleep at night thinking it would be my last sleep and tried to stay awake (I thought you could only die if you were sleeping.)

It isn't that there are more spiders here, I think, it is that I have the time to notice them, although the are everywhere. Their webs thread through trees like hammocks. When caught in the sunlight, they are silver and gossamer...they make mosaic etchings...they cover pathways and bicycle seats. In the darkness they shimmer under moonlight and make dark, ghostly paths more hushed.

I guess what I am saying is that it is good to sit on a porch swing at the end of day and to just think about spiders.