October 03, 2006

Autumnal Effects


I am careful of spiders. Someone told me at just the right moment in my childhood that killing a spider is bad luck, and that, as carnivores, spiders are usually busy trying to kill bugs that we like even less, so... I try not to mess up their work. I have never intentionally killed a spider. Mosquitoes? Moths? You bet. But not spiders.

Yesterday morning, on the way out of the house, we accidentally walked right through an impressive web, leaving it in tatters. D was upset. I explained to him that the spider would probably make another web that we could look for the next morning.

This morning, the new web was even bigger than the one we'd accidentally destroyed.

Why does it need to be so big, D wanted to know. Well, spiders have to work pretty hard to catch their breakfast and lunch and dinner every day, I said. And as the weather gets cooler, fewer bugs are flying around for them to catch. So maybe in the fall their webs need to be bigger.

As is so often the case, I was making things up. I have no idea if autumnal spider webs are bigger than summer webs. But it does seem as though late-flowering plants go through a burst of productivity just as we head towards that first defining frost.

How about you? Are you experiencing a fall-induced burst of productivity? Are you squirreling away your acorns? Or are you planning to proceed directly to hibernation?

(Check out Mama Says Om for more musings on fall.)

4 comments:

sophie said...

autumn make me happy and
hopeful and creative:)

i love spider webs but am
afraid of the leggy guys.

Maya's Granny said...

Being still close to the farm when I grew up, I love the harvast aspect of fall. And the colors. And the cool, invigorating weather. And school starting. It is all just a lovely bundle.

kerrdelune said...

This is a lovely web, and at this time of year, the webs I see are often beaded with dew. Do you know what kind of spider it was? This one looks rather like a garden spider's web - these wee critters eat their web every night and build a new one before dawn.

Fall productivity indeed, the entire contents of the garden are being "put down" for winter, and the kitchen is full of apple pies cooling for our Canadian Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

Lil said...

Teaching him respect and reverence for Mother Earth is wonderful Shelley!

It's not bursting in colors here...yet, so for now I'm merely enjoying our long lasting indian summer...and garage sales!

Lil :-)