And along came a spider...

This must be the year of the banana spiders. I've not only seen way too many of them, but I've also tolerated their huge webs in places where they're not in my way. These spiders are black and yellow, and I don't know what their actual textbook name is, but everyone around here calls them banana spiders because of their yellow coloring. The webs of the banana spiders are usually very big, and they make a zig-zag design in the center of the web, as if it's their signature on an original work of web-art.

There was one web last month by the steps coming up to the back porch. It wasn't in my way but the web was so huge, and it was right behind a wisteria bush that the birds happen to love.  I think the birds kept flying in and out of that wisteria and destroying part of the spider's web every day because the spider was constantly in a state of frantic renovation. After a couple of weeks of daily re-building, the spider finally moved its web to the side of the wisteria, out of the flight path of the birds.

Another banana spider web is near the spot where we keep the trash cans. I know the web is there, so I'm careful when I put trash in the cans, and also when I wheel the cans out to the curb. I don't want to be trailing a sticky web behind me which would probably upset the spider a great deal. Last thing I need is a spider with a vendetta against me.

Yet another banana spider has made its web by the front porch steps, and one part of the web is attached near the faucet to the water hose by the side of those steps. I have to be very careful turning that faucet on and off when I water the flowers out front, because that web is in such a place that my chin could easily land in the web if I wasn't paying attention.  When I turned on that faucet to water the marigolds this morning, that spider was sitting in the middle of the web and its legs were curling towards me in a come-hither sort of way. I literally said out loud "Do I look like a fly to you?" (That's what country life has led to... talking to spiders.)

So there I was, watering the marigolds... and I happened to look down because our outside cat Gatsby was sitting by my feet.... and I saw a banana spider on the stones of the front courtyard, calmly making its way up the path and coming towards me. Now... this is where I draw the line.

First of all, I credit myself for not screaming. One banana spider moving along the ground just seems much scarier than three others tucked up in their webs, and even though I didn't scream, I did yell out "What in the hell.....?!" And then, with hose in hand, I created a tsunami of water that sent that blasted spider skidding along the stones of the courtyard and I didn't stop the deluge till he had tumbled under the fence and into the pasture.

So there. Let that be a lesson to all banana spiders who don't stay where they belong (in their webs). If any spider, banana or otherwise, happens to get in my path and mess with my somewhat limited peace of mind that has been consistently shattered with wildlife and insect encounters, let it be known that I will do everything in my power to regain control of my little country bubble of sanity.