The last week has been a bit of a surreal experience. After the better part of a month on a cruise ship, then coming home and resigning, at least until January I still find myself still doing two jobs, doing chores, still burning the candle at both ends, and still not managing to write anything of consequence in the blog on anything like a regular basis.
I’ve been meaning to write something for the last three days – ever since the spider incident – before I forget it.
After getting into bed at stupid o’clock the other evening and reading a forgettable book for a while, I was just turning off the bedside lamp and getting comfortable when I felt something tickle my leg under the bedclothes. At first I thought it was my other half’s foot, but then realised it couldn’t be.
I slid back out of bed (at some speed, if I’m honest), turned the bedside lamp back on, and pulled the duvet back (again, at some speed, if I’m really honest). This woke my other half up, who quite naturally enquired what the hell I was doing.
“I think there’s something in the bed”
And there it was. A gigantic garden spider with boxing gloves, sitting on the bed – waiting to see what I was going to do next.
I looked around for something to scoop it off the bed with, then instantly regretted being “the tidy one” – finding only an odd sock, or some underwear to bludgeon it to death with. Moments later I figured the leather belt from my jeans might work – so “encouraged it” (at some speed) to leave the bed immediately.
The last sight of the spider was a shadow scurrying off across the bedroom floor towards a pile of my other half’s clothes that still haven’t been put back away after returning from holiday.
After getting back into bed, we both laughed at what our eldest daughter’s reaction might have been if it had happened to her. I imagine within minutes she would have set fire to the house – maybe even the street.
While recounting the story to the kids the next day, I learned something new. You know how spiders appear in the house at the beginning of autumn – when the weather grows cold? I always thought it was because of that – because it’s suddenly cold and wet outside. Not true. Turns out autumn is mating season for the big old hairy garden spiders – and they are out on the prowl to find a mate.
This of course also means the spiders are always there – year round – they just stay hidden until Autumn comes around. Don’t tell my daughter.
Leave a Reply