Spiders are one creepy crawly that I am not afraid of. If they leave me alone, I leave them alone. In fact, one of the best pets ever in my home was a tarantula - no vet trips, no baths - just a cricket every now and then, a cage clean out, and she was set. She was a beautiful rose tarantula named Bug. However, there are those who suffer from arachnophobia. These poor souls would not find the gigantic web located in Texas as interesting as I did. Spiders spun a web covering over 200 yards of a nature trail in Lake Tawakoni State Park. While the web itself I would find as beautiful as that described in the following poem, what it now holds I would find horrifying. Millions of mosquitoes are caught in the web!
The spider spun a silver webBy Truda McCoy
Above the gate last night
It was round with little spokes
And such a pretty sight
This morning there were drops of dew
High on it, one by one;
They changed to diamonds, rubies red.
When they were lit with sun.
A spider's nice to have around
To weave a web so fine
One which to string the drops of dew
That catch the bright sunshine.
From Poetry Place Anthology
And of course, there is:
"The Spider and the Fly"
The Caldecott Honor book adaptation by Tony DiTerlizzi is a dazzling rendition of this cautionary tale.
And let's not forget:
Little Miss MuffetFrom The Real Mother Goose
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating of curds and whey;
There came a big spider,
And sat down beside her.
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
In my book . . . We should all remember the well known adage about weaving a tangled web.
Oh what a tangled web weSir Walter Scott Marmion, Canto vi. Stanza 17
Weave,
When first we practice to
Deceive!
