Eating Good in the Neighborhood

If the spiders of my house knew how to steal ad slogans, this is the one they would steal.  When I first broke my leg, they had a two-week hiatus where no weekly tornado destroyed their homes.  They had no need to batten down the hatches, or to secure that isopod just waiting to be eaten with an extra roll of silk.  But then, I figured out how to vacuum from a wheelchair and the gig was up. 

Now, I have just returned after being away for 5 weeks, and any house spider that moved in during that time must have thought his life was golden:  no one sweeping away his web, or sucking up his well stocked larder.  But that ended yesterday.

I have been home three days, and even though I am still clumping around in a walking cast, it seemed time to tackle the spider “lace” that was dangling from every chair wrung, and draping the window corners.  I still can wield the vacuum from the chair, and wield I did.  I do admit to having a twinge of guilt as I suck up unfinished dinners and undid the spinning work that no doubt took them days to do. Double guilt, they produce their amazing silk with the nutrients they gain from their food, and enough sucked up webs equal a starved-to-death spider. After typing that factoid I feel guiltier than ever but housekeeping duty calls. 

I found another one had captured a scorpion.  Bravo for him and in my book a scorpion in your web nets you a “ no-vacuuming pass” for at least another week.  I also saw some pretty small spiders scurrying out of my way; new arrivals would be my guess.  They are perhaps feeling a bit disillusioned at the moment.  For 5 weeks the home they had selected had been tranquil and free of any indoor tornadoes.  But now, that “Pax Romana” has come to an end. 

One of the friends I visited over my prolonged vacation had lost her house to a tornado almost 10 yrs ago.  I thought of her as I created my own little vortex of doom and wondered what encouraging words she might share with these arachnids on how they could soon rebuild and all would be well, for another week anyways.

So, yes, I am back in Texas.  Many blogs had been percolating in my mind as I traveled but now the tyranny of the urgent has taken over.  My husband and I are heading back East for a college reunion that we thought was 3 weeks way but in fact is only two.  Gulp.  This time, plane reservations, rental cars, dog kennels, etc. all need to be laid on. And once at West Point I am so close again to grandchildren and friends, why would I hurry home?  New England in the fall is something well worth lingering over.   Real life and all its obligations will take a back seat again and the spiders can be lulled into thinking the monster has once again been vanquished.

Dream on my eight- legged friends, dream on.