Monday, August 15, 2011

NOT cute.

On Saturday I knocked a spider off my head. It was every bit alarming as it sounds. Possibly more.

I was sitting in the shade at the park, watching ground squirrels. They're very cute. Then people walked by and scared them into their holes, so I decided to play on my phone while I waited for them to come out again. I sat there for a bit. I reached up and scratched my head. And knocked the spider off.

Not just any spider, oh no. A spider fat enough, with its legs tucked in slightly, to be roughly spherical, though vertically a bit more of an oval. And, with said legs tucked in, probably about the diameter of a quarter. Light tan color, and some of the thickest spider legs I've ever had the displeasure to see. UGH.

It wouldn't have been so bad to see on the ground in the park, if it hadn't been on my HEAD first. It didn't look like a spider that spins webs, it looked like some kind of a hunter spider. So what did it do, fall out of the tree high above and land on my head?  I would think I would've felt that -- it would've plopped. I would think if it'd climbed up my back I would've felt that too of course, even if it used my braid -- my braid wasn't touching the ground, it'd have to get to it somehow. So I say again, UGH.

I guess it could be worse. It could've bitten me; or a black widow would be worse. Although black widows like dark dry places, darker than an open shady spot, so it's even harder for me to imagine a black widow showing up on my head than a big fat light tan hunter spider. Well... the latter's pretty easy for me to imagine, now. Not so much how it got there. I mean... I can imagine various scenarios. Just not one that seems sufficiently plausible. Do you mind if I say "ugh" again?  Yeah...

Nature is... not very cuddly. I think next time, if I sit at all, I shall sit on the grassy sunny side. Sunburns are tame. Lovely things, really.

1 comment :

aelthwyn said...

awwww! SCARY! Now I feel all creepy crawly as I sit down here in the basement where three spiders have been killed in the last 3 days..... spiders that big are suuuuper creepy! and I agree it's very hard to imagine how it could have gotten there!

This reminds me of the day recently when a bunch of little red spiders decided to screen off our porch, but the webs were so fine I didn't see it untill I walked into it and could Feel a thin layer like fabric draped all over my face and arms. I flailed and shreeked very like Margeurite in Ever After with the "There was a Bee" episode. But now your story is ten times worse! UGH! *shudders*