Let’s talk about the Yellow Garden Spider again, shall we? She’s still there. (Indeed, we found another one near the front door: Beware garden walks in the evening!)
I walked out to check on her this afternoon. She saw me coming, and she scrambled. Not out of sight, just higher up on her web. And you know she was watching me. So I busied myself elsewhere, distributing rainwater in an attempt to encourage the flowers to continue blossoming despite the heat, and to provide for the birds and toads.
After a few buckets near the house and a few by the curb, I checked on the spider. She had moved back to the center of her web, evidently satisfied that I posed no threat. As I took a step closer, I startled two butterflies and a grasshopper. The butterflies leisurely fluttered around the web, but the grasshopper jumped smack into it.
The spider didn’t move. The grasshopper struggled. I thought the story was about to end. But the spider did nothing. I am convinced she had her eyes on me and was therefore less interested in the vibrating strands of her web. So the grasshopper desperately struggled and eventually fell to the ground.
I guess I owe the spider an apology.