Previously in Florida:
“Mom, do spiders only have 6 legs?” Aidan asked two days ago.
“No, spiders have 8 legs. Insects have 6 legs but spiders are not insects.”
“But do they sometimes have 6 legs?” he asked.
“No, all spiders have 8 legs,” I said.
Fast forward to yesterday.
Our friend Sarah was here visiting when mom says: “What is that above the door?”
Holy YOU-KNOW-WHAT! That is a flipping spider! No wait, my mistake, IT’S A MONSTER!
“Oh, that’s nothing,” Sarah says. “I’ve seen ‘em way bigger than that.”
I think it is the mixture of heat and humidity, and one too many mosquito bites perhaps, that allows a person to nonchalantly dismiss this Guiness Book of World Records fit creature. (That is also the reason why, as a massive storm appeared to be approaching today and we were getting the kids out of the pool, the other adults thought we should just wait it out on the patio….next to the water….I mean, I’m no genius and of course, I did run into a wall yesterday… but perhaps sitting next to a swimming pool, outside during a thunderstorm isn’t the best idea???? Just a guess though….) At any rate, this is a big spider. Maybe not of chicken-eating proportions but nonetheless, big.
So, although my mother offered it a house key and a room of its own, it snuck back into the woodwork and we went on our merry way, avoiding that door frame at all cost because I know saw those legs poke out again a little later, as if just to freak me out. (Already a taunting sibling?)
And then, later in the day, we saw this up under the tiled roof:
An even bigger spider, WITH 6 LEGS!
“Hey Aidan, see that spider up there?” I say.
“Yes.” (Phew, he sees it too…)
“How many legs do you see?” I ask.
“Um, six.”
“How many is it missing?” I ask.
“Two.”
“I stand corrected. If a spider gets some legs torn off, it CAN have only six legs….”
And as I ran to get my camera, I think I saw some chicken feathers floating inside his den...
Come HOME, Karen!! Back to Cali, where only the boobs are big!!
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