spiderwebs and i don't have a loving relationship. mainly because it's my destiny to walk into those sticky strands. heading out to the garage in the morning, i'm walking between the car and the garage wall....ugh! my head just tripped and detonated a strand that connected the wall and car. i frantically wipe my face, my nose and my mouth. i'm convinced there is a spider crawling on me and i must get it off!
i'm walking down the stairs to the basement....argh! a sticky strand has been dislodged and quickly attached to my head. i frantically wipe my face, my nose and my mouth. somewhere on this rather large canvas called my body, i'm convinced a spider is merrily and deftly evading my swinging arms trying to remove it and the strand!
our basement has open joist space. my wife has just walked ahead of me in the basement and as i follow....ahhh! while she is just short enough to avoid them, i've been blessed with the height to take on all strands fully in the face. this delicate strand nimbly disconnects and then reconnects with my stubby beard, a velcro counterpart that works very well with sticky spider strands. so what do i do? i frantically wipe my face, my nose and my mouth. somewhere on me, a spider is crawling; where is it?? numerous exaggerated hand scrubs still fail to remove that nefarious strand!
to be fair, in all those instances, i suppose the spider was rather annoyed i've destroyed one of its mode of travel. yeah...we don't have a loving relationship....
i was out hiking a few weeks back on a foggy day. the dew point was heavy in the air. the leaves on the ground and trees were covered with water droplets. in the fog, those droplets gave off a muted brilliance, a softly understated grandeur that many who walk this park probably miss. it was truly one of those "little things" that offer great enjoyment if you pay attention.
of course, as is my destiny, i walked into a spiderweb strand while walking on a grassy path between trees on either side. yep. i frantically wipe my face, my nose and my mouth. i think i have the perfect statement to address my tombstone, or urn as i'll be cremated. "steve's destiny was to walk into spiderweb strands and to frantically wipe his face, his nose and his mouth."
but then, there are times i'm in awe of spiderwebs. i may not love them but i love how they can be dressed up. i personally believe in the Creator (even though part of my brand is to write using lower case, i cannot bring myself to use a lower case 'c' in referring to the Creator) who has created intricacies that just blow my mind. seeing a spiderweb doused in water droplets is one of those things. i imagine the Creator must really love His work of "little things" as well as "big things". these spiderwebs are rarely just happened upon. they are usually tucked away just enough that if you are not looking for them, you will miss them. and what a spectacular sight you will have missed!
i came upon this first one as it was one of those rare ones (for me anyway) that was just off to the side of the path. i love the rather saggy look to bottom part of this web. the water droplets seem to gussy up the web and give the appearance of an elaborately jeweled necklace. i stood marveling at this extravagant display both before and after making some images.
this second spiderweb was one i did miss the first time around. while i was making images of the aforementioned web, a couple of older women walking the path mentioned to me that there was another just back a little ways. after a while of being mesmerized by this first web, i walked back to see if i could find the other one. it took a little bit of scanning, but i finally saw it back in the midst of vegetation off the path about 20 feet or so. while the first one is my favorite, this one was no less spectacular to look at. the clear sparkles of the water droplets on this delicate and complex weaving (by a spider no less!) contrasted with the two thistle type plants that the web hung from. in-between two lifeless stalks was this web that seemed to come alive and say, "look at me!" and look i did! again, i marveled at this second of two feats of engineering that was propelled to a whole other level with the dainty dew drops dressing up the web.
after a while, i moved on and continued my adventure, thankful for the gift of these bespoken webs. it pays to pay attention. you never know when the "little things" will impact you in a big way.
hope you enjoyed this blog! i'd love to hear which of these two spiderwebs is your favorite and why. perhaps you've encountered some "little thing" that left you in awe. share that with me! i'd love to hear about it!
as always, i am so thankful for all of you who read my blogs and even share them with others. i am grateful that you think what i write is a worthwhile use of your time. thanks for supporting me in that way!
if you are interested in either of these images for your home/business, i'll be adding them to my gallery and online store very soon. in the meantime, i'll be seeing you next time with more "images from a quiet world"!