Late Summer

 

                             The last of the sweet 100's and pink roses through the deck rail.

I love the late summer days, those last few days in September before the calendar says Autumn begins.  Around here the humidity usually drops, the sun is at a noticeably lower angle, shadows are longer, days get shorter and the first cool nights and mornings feel refreshing rather than too cold.  It’s funny how the cooler temperatures feel refreshing in September but too cold in March. I guess I just welcome the change of seasons.

               Without the current pandemic situation, I’d be back at work at the beginning of September, getting lunch out to the students in our district, the high school students for the past 10 years.  I remember, though, that just when I had to return to work, the weather turned to the season I most enjoy and as I climbed behind the wheel to drive myself to work I sighed and looked wistfully at the lawn chairs, wishing I could stay home, pour another cup of coffee and enjoy the sights, sounds, and scents of the late summer mornings.  Well, my current and for the foreseeable future is that I can do just that.  I don’t like the reason that I’m free to do that now, but I sure do appreciate being able to do it!  There is a different sound to the chirping of the birds, a hushed quality to the sound of the traffic from the highway, and the neighborhood as well.  Leaves on the shrubs begin to turn colors before the trees, late blooms on the roses begin to fade, and there is sharpness to the breeze. The last of the summer tomatoes seem extra sweet, as if they have soaked up all the goodness of long sunny days. I enjoy it all.  Getting reacquainted with my long sleeve shirts, for me, is something I welcome.  The days feel less frenzied, perhaps because it’s time to turn my attention to indoor things, making sure the heaters are dust free so we can turn them on that first morning when the outdoor temperatures are in the 30’s and the house feels cold, cooking pots of chili, soups, and stew, and planning out the upcoming holidays—Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  Yes, they will all be here before we know it.  Late summer feels like a new beginning, but maybe that’s because for so many years it signaled a return to routine, my girls going to school and me returning to work.  I guess I got so used to it that it’s hard to change now, even if I wanted to, which really I don’t.  Autumn and Winter are times of slowing down (despite the holidays) and an easier pace with time for rest and reflection.  By the time I’m tired of the cold weather, I’ll be ready for longer days and warmer breezes and the rejuvenation of the outdoors.

               Each season brings a chance to change things; live at a different pace.  This year I can fully appreciate the slower place the end of Summer brings.  I plan to enjoy it.

Icky Vicky

 

Icky Vicky

 

Icky Vicky is a spider

And I like her not

She lives outside my window

In an unreachable spot

In her web she undulated

As the wind played in the trees

I didn’t like to see that

It gave me slightly shaky knees

I noticed that she’s gone now

Where she went I do not know

It makes me a little nervous

When outside now I do go

I think I liked it better

When her position I could see

At least then I could be sure

She wasn’t near to me!

 

               It’s been a while since I wrote about spiders, because for the most part the last couple of years have been devoid of spiders in the areas I want to be outside, and not too many inside.  I truly hope it stays that way.  Vigilance in sweeping outside in the areas I inhabit has been key in keeping them at bay.  The broom simply redirects them to more appropriate areas for their web building and waiting for prey. Icky Vicky was out of reach, but well within my sight.

               I first noticed the huge web during a rain storm.  It encompassed the whole window and the raindrops highlighted it.  At first it was fascinating, even a beautiful work of art the way the drops looked like diamonds highlighting the intricacies of the weaving. Then I noticed Icky Vicky sitting in the middle, awaiting her prey.  Sometimes she would creep upward toward the right hand corner, only to move back to the middle, her spindly legs curling and uncurling as she moved.  When the sun came out she remained in the middle, and as the sun set it streamed into my living room so I closed the drapes.  Now we could plainly see the shadow of her and her web. I didn’t enjoy that, but really what could I do?  She stayed there for the better part of a week.  One day I noticed a fat fly was caught in her trap, and then she crept over and I tried to look away, unsuccessfully, while she feasted on the juicy morsel.  It was the day after that when I realized she had disappeared. It’s not the first time I had seen a monster like her, in years past I had to get rid of her kind because they were too close to where I have my patio garden and chairs.  I would then see them high above with a web strung between the cable and telephone lines which was fine, they weren’t bothering me there and I could keep an eye on them so I knew where they were.  I still don’t know where she went because there are no huge weavings between the lines above this year.  I doubt she went far, I think it’s likely that after she ate she crept away to lay eggs and then simply died. I fully expect that next year the spawn of Icky Vicky will decorate my window the way she did. Of course, she’s not the only one of her ilk that I’ve seen this summer, she’s just the largest. For the most part I have, as I said, relocated those who choose to lay their insect trap too close to my outdoor living areas.  There is one that I recently killed with insect spray because I walked out onto the back deck one morning to get a breath of early morning air and walked into a huge web in which it was sitting.  Yuck!  I made a hasty retreat into the house and grabbed the can of spray.  Sorry, spider lovers, but that one didn’t make it.  Later I went and swept the web away.  Things had been pretty quiet until my next door neighbor had a load of firewood delivered and stacked on the edge of her driveway which is pretty close to my driveway.  It was only a couple of days before I noticed an increase in the tiger striped monsters hanging out on our cars and that side of the house.  My broom as well as sticks have been very busy relocating the invaders.  As I’m twirling the threads around a stick before tossing it away from the house or car I wonder what the neighbors think I’m doing.  I imagine it looks funny, like I’m waving a magic wand and casting a spell or something.  I wish I could cast a spider be gone spell on my house and property so I wouldn’t be bothered with those nasty little creeps.  I’ll have to make do with my current removal methods, I guess.

               I realize that spiders play an important role in nature, but I don’t have to like them. If they just keep their distance we will live in peace.