A Spider's Web

What a beautiful late summer morning. The air has just the right balance of warmth and coolness, the birds are keeping their communication at a pleasant decibel, and the breeze stirring up the leaves promises to be refreshing.

I got up this morning, dragging myself down the stairs (which is still better than falling, by the way), took Ryan up to the bus, then decided not to go curl up on the couch (which was tempting). Mornings really are not a bad time of the day when one is awake to enjoy them.

Getting the oatmeal started on the stovetop, I headed upstairs to help Adrienne with something, then gathered my glasses, my laptop and…what am I forgetting?

Oh dear, the oatmeal. On the stove. Cooking. Well, make that starting to burn. I salvaged what I could, being very careful not to scrape the bottom of the pan. Then cutting up a banana into it, I added cinnamon, peanut butter and a splash of almond milk. Now, I gathered the laptop, the oatmeal and a cup of pumpkin coffee and went to the porch.

I was greeted by this.

Now, don't get me wrong. I appreciate spiders. I do.
When they are outside, in their own space. Not mine.
This one, which I never did see, but imagined was large, hairy and inevitably black, was in my space.
The web literally went from the edge of one window to the middle of another window, with sticky strands attached to my plant, my candle holder, a framed picture, and my chair.

 Not a typical web with distinct strands in a traditional spiderweb shape, but a tangled mass of random sticky threads that brought to mind Shelob from Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. I decided I wasn't giving in to this spider. I sat on the porch, ummm, just not in my normal spot, now swaddled in fine filaments of web.

I really need to clear the web away, but I am wondering what good it will do, if the source of the web is still out there. Somewhere. Even as I sit here, I feel itchy, wondering where she is. On my leg? On my head? My shoulder? Adrienne came out to join me, sitting in the web festooned chair until I told her to look to her right. She shuddered, shrieked and promptly removed herself.

Still, I remain. Spider or no spider, I am going to enjoy today, because it is a gift. As for "Shelob", she can have another day on the porch, on my chair. I am feeling gracious.

Love,
Dianne