Foggy Spiderwebs

     This foggy morning as I was standing outside on the patio with Kid and Young'un waiting for the school bus (yes, in my pj's), Kid saw this massive spider web.  He got a stick and was going to lob it through, but then I said, "STOP!"  Both he and Young'un turned around and looked at me like I had lost my mind, but I told them to leave it alone because it was eating.  To me, spiders are are creepy but they do serve the purpose of ridding us of insects...and providing birds with a crunchy source of protein.  

     Thinking back on my years of schooling and year of teaching high school science at a residential treatment facility for boys, I can tell you that spiders are NOT insects.  Sure, they look like the should be, but they're arachnids (that's pronounced araknids) - like creepy blood sucking ticks and scorpions.  So, here's your ever so brief spider vs. insect education of the day - spiders have 8 legs, insects have 6.  Also, spiders don't have antennae (that's plural for antenna) and their bodies have two segments, whereas an insect has three.  See, I do retain some stuff.  Anywhoo, spiders secrete different kinds of silk from their spinnerets, which just happen to be located at their behind.  Some is sticky, some isn't.  Of course, when I walk through one they all seem sticky to me.

     This morning I decided to share my fascination with spiderwebs.  That's because they are dripping wet from the heavy fog so I can see them all.  Of course, I still walked through at least a dozen, but that's because I was focused on other things, like trying to get Rain in her stall to eat instead of running around the field, along with generally not paying attention to where they're at.  There were webs of all sizes to be seen.  I was able to avoid the two man-sized ones that reminded me of some particularly scary movie scenes.  If you've never stopped to really take a look at the spiderwebs, give it a go.  Spring and fall days when it's foggy or there's a heavy dew are perfect for it.

     So, there you have it folks.  Spiderwebs galore out there this morning.  I took a bazillion pictures of them and made a slide show of a few short of the bazillion on the home page.  If you'd like to check them out, click on the "home" section up there at the top left of the page and you'll be whisked over there lickety split.  Have a wonderful Wednesday, be careful driving in that fog if you're going out in it, and I'll catch up with you later.  Smiling & Waving, Sharon   

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