I just noticed the first grasshopper flying past me the other day. That is a signal (along with the buzzing of cicadas, or the "dry weather fly," as my (biological) father called them) that we are well into summer and that greatest season of all is fast upon us. Ray Bradbury's "The Halloween Tree" and his Reader's Digest article, "Tricks! Treats! Gangway!" are always part of my Hallowe'en ritual, but things are not the same any more because of the clocks not being turned back as they had always been. In our town, the city council has declared that trick or treat is only between 6 and 7 p.m., Oktober 31. (When I was a kid, we were allowed to go out on Hallowe'en Eve, and Hallowe'en, for as long as we wanted; when I was researching old newspapers on microfilm, I read that Hallowe'en once took up a whole week! Ah, for those good old days!) That was fine--before the time change. Now it is still light between 6 and 7, and the kids parade around and rap on doors without the help of that vital ingredient--darkness! Somehow, it is just not the same. However, nothing can destroy Hallowe'en for me! My JoL burns out one whole candle on the eve of All Saint's, the next night for All Saint's, and the next for All Soul's. If I am going to go to all that joy, I want to get my $'s worth out of it!

My pet spider Geraldine, who lives under the front porch and only comes out at night, always reminds me that summer is over half over when she starts plumping up.

My largest pumpkin in the garden is the size of a softball now, so it should make a fine jack-o-lantern, even if it turns out to be a squash.

In any event, there's still a watermelon on which to wait and one more month of summer sunsets to savor.

MTD

quote:

Originally posted by MogtheDog:
My pet spider Geraldine...

Eeewwwww!

If Geraldine lived under my front porch, she would be one deceased spider. She would be a late arachnid.

Sorry, you've hit upon my phobia.

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Spaulding:

quote:

Originally posted by MogtheDog:
My pet spider Geraldine...

Eeewwwww!

If Geraldine lived under my front porch, she would be one deceased spider. She would be a late arachnid.

Sorry, you've hit upon my phobia.

Well, it's a good thing for Geraldine, then, that she lives under my front porch.

This is about as close as Geraldine will allow me to get during her season of feeding. She tolerates, and even occasionally seems to enjoy my company, but she is an incurable anthrophobe despite my regular attempts at desensitization therapy.

Alas, Geraldine will most likely be in her season of eternal sleep come Halloween, so I shall take it upon myself to tolerate her phobic ways and make the time to enjoy her company in return.

MTD

Alrighty then.

Doug, haven't you ever heard that old saying, "If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive?"

Aye, that I have, but I wonder what those folks who were bitten dead have to say!

All these charming old rhymes still do not dissuade my phobias - sorry.

You are forgiven. Whenever I find a spider in the house, I pick it up gently in a tissue or paper towel and put it outside. However, if a FLY gets in the house, I drop everything and hunt it to its death, frequently using far more poison than is needed to kill it. On some things, I have no mercy--

MogTheDog, is it possible that Geraldine might be a Brown Recluse?

This spider is most active at night when it comes out in search of food consisting of cockroaches and other small insects. During the day, time is spent in quiet, undisturbed places such as bathrooms, bedrooms, closets, basements and cellars. The spiders sometimes take shelter under furniture, appliances and carpets, behind baseboards and door facings, or in corners and crevices. Some have been found in stored clothing, old shoes, on the undersides of tables and chairs, and in folded bedding and undisturbed towels stored for long periods of time. Outdoors, the spider may be found in sheltered corners among debris, in wood piles, under loose bark and stones, in old barns, storage sheds and garages. These spiders are very adaptable and may be active in temperatures ranging from 45 to 110 deg F.


MogTheDog, although the above [from Google] does not specifically state porches, I guess that underneath porches could meet the definition of "undisturbed places."

quote:

Originally posted by biplane1:
MogTheDog, is it possible that Geraldine might be a Brown Recluse?

Canis Mogus here.

No. Geraldine is most certainly a western black widow (Latrodectus hesperus). As such, she is indeed capable of delivering a nasty bite, but it is rarely fatal. (Only 63 human deaths were attributed to black widow bites between the years of 1950 and 1990.)

Geraldine knows all concerning anything that happens under our house. She has spoken to me often of the crawl space under the crawl space, which more than compensates for the void created by the lack of a cellar. I believe her, though I've not yet found such a place in my occasional wanderings there.

I try to imagine the void created by one of my human companions killing her out of senseless fear, but I simply cannot get my shredded paper stuffing of a mind around the idea. Instead, I explore all of the ventilation shafts in our house that could serve as a hiding place for Geraldine if the need ever arises; places that no human hands need explore because there are as yet no books hidden there...

MTD aka CM

I must confess that, when gathering cordwood to bring indoors of a winter's day, I often encounter black widows and summarily smash them with a finger of a gloved hand and carry on.

Biplane, you are most correct in your description of the black widow.

The brown recluse is much nastier. I have a friend who was bitten on the leg by a brown recluse. You would recoil at the sight of the result, even months later, of the flesh-eating venom.

quote:

Originally posted by Viktoria:
However, if a FLY gets in the house, I drop everything and hunt it to its death, frequently using far more poison than is needed to kill it. On some things, I have no mercy--

Not three minutes past, I did the same thing to fly here in kitchen. Except it met its doom at the flat end of a flyswatter!

quote:

Originally posted by Braling II:
The brown recluse is much nastier. I have a friend who was bitten on the leg by a brown recluse. You would recoil at the sight of the result, even months later, of the flesh-eating venom.

Oh, they're dreadful! My high-school science teacher was bitten by one whilst working outback of the school at a science "plot" at a pile of cordwood.

The poor man was never the same again.

Never seen a bite? Then if your constitution is weak, do not click here!

Someone needs to urge Mr. Dark to weigh in on the spider bite thing.