Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A spider’s web

Living as we do, cheek by jowl with the main road, it is inevitable that our window sills are evenly and thickly coated with dust. With the usual sigh of resignation, I picked up my duster and wet rag and walked over to do the needful.

That’s when I spotted the brand new web. Woven between sill and window frame and tucked into a corner, it was revealed in all its fragile beauty by the reflection of the sunlight on its silken surface. It was the smallest and most delicate web I had ever seen. I paused and examined the pattern of the lace and the fineness of the thread – an avid crocheter, I am always ready to admire another lace-maker’s handiwork, even if the other has eight arms to my very human two! The web was so beautiful that I decided to let it be for a while and see what else spidey would do.

Throughout the day I stopped to check, but no spider! Perhaps it was a first attempt by a brand new home-maker, maybe it was not such a desirable residence after all, or maybe the location was not quite right. Or perhaps the predator became the prey – the resident lizard’s meal.

In the interest of tidiness and cleanliness, I finally swept up the cobweb and consigned it to the dustbin. And while I did so, I remembered other webs almost certainly woven by older and more experienced spiders. Those were inevitably lodged in the corners of ceilings and were thick and heavy. It also amused me to discover the dog’s fur firmly and neatly woven into the design – a fur-lined residence. Spider’s can be inventive too!

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