Saturday, September 16, 2006

Webbed wonders

A perfect morning for photographing spider webs: a blanket of fog held the dew on the upper meadow long after the sun came up, illuminating elaborate webs that are virtually invisible in broad daylight. It was quiet as death outside until I crossed the line of pine trees at the edge of the meadow, at which point a mob of raucous crows loudly issued a Clumsy Biped Warning.

I saw a lovely pair of red-bellied woodpeckers but no other living creature larger than a spider, not even the scrawny stray cat that has been hanging around outside our house for the past week trying to sneak in for a visit with our indoor cat. The stray sits on the back deck looking longingly through the window while we enjoy our supper on the other side; its offerings of dead chipmunks have so far failed to persuade us to open the door. This morning the cat was not visible.

But the spiderwebs were, all glimmery and sparkly with dew. I shot a roll of film and came back with wet shoes and pants drenched to the knee and, as an added bonus, a spider in my hair. Not bad for an early-morning ramble.

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