Morning art installation.
I'm not sure why, but every September our resident spider population seems to increase by about five thousand percent. There are spiders—and spiderwebs—everywhere. You can see them best in the morning sun, still all perfectly intact and glistening with dew, a fat spider often sitting proudly (or resting after a long night's effort?) in the center. (This web's owner scurried out of sight when I pulled out the camera.)
There are so many different shapes and sizes of spiderwebs, including little roundish ones that appear by the hundreds in the newly cut grass in the hayfield, and others that consist of simply a few several-foot-long strands that have been magically draped between two stationary objects, usually at face level.
It's easy to see why spiders and spiderwebs play a big role in Halloween decorating; somebody probably just looked around at the end of September and said, "Yep, these things could be really creepy."
I like the intricate, showy webs like the one above the best. They look like so much work that I always try to avoid breaking them as I traipse across the farmyard with a basket of laundry to hang on the line, or over to the chicken coops carrying overgrown arugula and cucumber treats from the kitchen garden. But because of the way the light plays on them, you can often only see the webs from one direction, so more often than not I will carefully duck my head and slip under so as to avoid a sticky mess and then mindlessly crash right through on my way back.
It's best to walk around the farm with a hat on and your mouth shut.
I'm always amazed at how fast the spiders can create those complicated webs, which makes me feel a little less guilty when I accidentally destroy one. Watching a spider at work is mesmerizing, and taking a few minutes to stop and really see how something is literally being built out of thin air should probably be on everybody's Need To Do This Someday life list.
The longer you watch, the more in awe you'll be.
More spiders and spider webs? Here.
© FarmgirlFare.com, always in the middle of a building boom.
I feel the same about these works of art. We are having an unusually warm/hot September in New England and spiders have been busy indoors and out. (And the webs can be a really sticky nuisance at times!)
ReplyDeleteNot my favorite hair dressing either. Hats are your friend at night around here too. We took a short walk about midnight last and there were some really cool webs to be seen. No photos but good memories.
ReplyDeleteI love walking through the garden to see these amazing pieces of art early in the morning. I do, sadly find that sometimes they are constructed so there is absolutely no way around: I am always sad to see such bold, creative efforts destroyed.
ReplyDeleteYou write what I think Susan! When my sister stopped by the other day, I nodded my head towards an amazing web in my shed and said "Say hello to Charlotte." That was a favorite book of mine as a kid and spiderwebs still seem magical. I leave a light on out back at night in part to attract the "nightlife" which attracts spiders...and toads:).
ReplyDeleteWe have a spider on the motion lights on our garage. I would love to take a picture of it but haven't been able to. It's some sort of garden spider that comes to the web when it gets dark. It's hard to get a picture of it with all the light on it. But for a spider it's pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah-our new property is apparently their testing grounds. I've seen (and photographed, but poorly) a huge web from the beehive to the solar panels to a birch tree that could swallow the dog. :)
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