Sitting snugly between the layers of a flowering plant sat a little spider, intently peeking out. Momentarily, it ducked behind the layers and out of sight.
“Let’s all take a moment and be thankful that spiders don’t fly.” ~Unknown
spider
Black and Yellow Garden Spider
One of the spiders that I have seen frequently this summer and fall is the female Black and Yellow Garden Spider. She is conspicuous because of her large size and bright color pattern. Her orb web is also large in size, sometimes reaching up to two feet. The web is normally decorated with a white zigzag band of silk near the center where the female can often be seen waiting patiently for or enjoying her prey.
“The spider’s touch, how exquisitely fine!
Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.”
~ Alexander Pope
Along the boardwalk
Sometimes I like to take a quiet walk around the boardwalk at Reelfoot Lake and see what nature I can spot. Here are some of my latest finds.
“So, if you are too tired to speak, sit next to me, because I, too, am fluent in silence.” ~R. Arnold
Spiders and webs
“With six small diamonds for his eyes
He walks upon the summer skies,
Drawing from his silken blouse
The lacework of his dwelling house.”
~ Robert P. Tristram Coffin
Watch out for the Spider!
“Seeing a spider isn’t a problem. It becomes a problem when it disappears.” ~Unknown
Common Garden Spiders
Two Black and Yellow Garden Spiders standing guard over a swampy area of Reelfoot Lake
“Give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for – because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything.” ~Peter Marshall
Living among the duckweed
Some of the flora and fauna living around the duckweed at Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge
“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.” ~David Attenborough
Spider web
“Will you walk into my parlor?” said the spider to the fly;
“‘Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
And I have many pretty things to show when you are there.” ~Mary Howitt
Wonder
“With regard to the horror which some children show of beetle, spider, worm, that is usually a trick picked up from grown-up people.” ~Charlotte Mason
walking on a country road 