Arach? No Phobia.

For years, spiders gave me the heebity jeebities. Even the sight of these eight-legged freaks made me curl up in the fetal position while crying for someone much stronger than I to squash it or give it a Viking funeral down the toilet. Sure, people tell me they serve a purpose by killing all the smaller, more annoying bugs that buzz by our faces and bite any exposed flesh, but I don't buy it; I still see plenty of gnats and mosquitoes. And the spiders? They spend their days hiding in my shower or between my washer and dryer, making me scream like a five-year-old girl after I turn on the light and they scurry for my toes. *shudder*

But after moving to Austin, I've had to get used to a much larger quantity of spiders. My apartment complex is full of old oaks and other trees with many low-lying branches. Between these branches are spiders, from large to small, weaving some amazingly intricate webs and just hanging out in the center of them, waiting for dinner to drop by. These kind of spiders I can respect; they're earning their keep, not like those lazy desert spiders who made their homes in the dark nooks and crannies of my apartment. Granted, I still have a long way to go to get over my fear of arachnids (which is why I refrained from doing any links with spider images in them), but it has been really cool to look up and see a sprawling web swaying in the breeze. That's all.