Lost in familiar territory

I got lost on the way to class this morning--not physically, of course. All my classes this semester meet in the same classroom just upstairs from my office, so if I ever lose my way to that room, you'll know I've totally lost it.

No, I got lost mentally. Just for a moment I had to pause in the hallway and ask myself Now what class am I getting ready to teach? This despite the fact that I was carrying a great big Norton Anthology of African-American Literature in my arms. 

I blame the spider, or the weather, or the dog, or all of the above. The spider arrived in my living room yesterday afternoon, marching across the rug as if it owned the place and temporarily taking away my power of speech. It was big--really big. I don't remember ever seeing a spider that big inside the house before, and there I sat with no shoes on and no desire to get any closer to stomp it. Fortunately, my son was there, with shoes and pretty good aim, resulting in a squashed spider. 

First, though, I had to take a photo with my phone. (No way I was letting that thing stay alive long enough to let me go fetch the camera bag.) If the red diamond on the carpet is four inches long, how big is the spider? (I can't look at the photo long enough to do the math.)

But the spider was not the least of my worries yesterday afternoon. We've had rain pretty constantly since Saturday morning and I kept getting flash flood warnings, so I was concerned about whether I'd have another water-related driveway disaster like the flood last spring. How would I deal with a washed-out driveway while my husband's out of town? Asking my son to toss a shoe at it won't help.

I kept stomping down the driveway through puddles to check the water level last night but it stayed within bounds. Then late last night the dog starting barking hysterically at some invisible invader and I heard a huge crash from outside and I had to go investigate. In the dark. In the pouring rain. Trying to wend my way around puddles and mud without fumbling my flashlight, umbrella, and car keys, which I did not realize I'd dropped into a puddle until I was ready to leave for work this morning.

And I never found the source of the crashing noise or the cause of the dog's frantic barking.  Neither did I find a way to calm my brain down enough to get any decent sleep. Between the bug dreams and the flood dreams and the why is she barking dreams, I tossed and turned all night.

So this morning I was a little lost. I don't know how long I spent searching for my car keys before I found them in that puddle, but I made it to work on time and taught my classes without falling on my face.Now classes are over and the spider is dead and the driveway remains above water, but still the rain continues to fall.