"Little spider on the wall,
You ain't got no hair at all,
You ain't got no comb to comb your hair.
What do you care, you ain't got no hair."
~ performed by Ish Kabibble aka Merwyn Bogue, a nearly-forgotten radio comic during the early 40s~
(Spider Charm for Vintiquities Halloween Charm Swap)
The little ditty above might just be one of the few things that have stuck in my head from senior high English Lit. class. If I were to have penned this ode to a spider it would have read much differently. Perhaps something like this:
Little spider on my wall,
You ain't got no chance at all,
Hanging by your silken hair-like thread,
While I whack you good and dead!
Much less cute and comic and more violent and deadly!
It is no secret that there is no love lost between me and spiders. While I greatly admire their spinning skills, that is where my admiration stops. Around here spiders and surprises go hand in hand and not in a good way. Last year, in September, I was bitten by a spider, I seriously hope this is not to become an annual event as it happened again a little over 72 hours ago! This time I was not so lucky as last, it was kin folk of the Brown Recluse that nipped me the first time, it was the real deal poisonous kind this time.
I am wondering if I used some sort of charm to conjure up their apparent perception of welcome. Perhaps they were hanging outside of the studio window and saw a scattering of small silver webs being fashioned...
With black widows reposing in the center of each one...
And they thought it was an open invitation to move right in and partake of tender flesh while one is sleeping.
I picture this event as an old black and white movie, Attack of the Killer Spiders, or some such nonsense. Cue scene, an unsuspecting victim sits at her vanity combing her hair while while strings of eerie suspenseful music of strain in the background, reminding you of creepy crawling things. The camera pans to her bed post when an insidious spider is darting back and forth peeking at its unsuspecting prey. At each lurch forward the spider becomes visible and the camera pans to a close up of the victims bare arm, hand holding a guilt brush, sweeping strokes of hair being brushed away from the tender flesh of a neck.
The Victim moves to the bed, arranges herself prettily for sleep, one arm cast above her slightly side tilted head, baring tender flesh of neck and arm, choice spots for the attack of the killer spider. A small sigh escapes parted painted pouty lips, you know all in those old black and whites the victims go to sleep in full make up, and she is asleep. All eight legs of Darth Fanger begin to wiggle in glee as he scuttles across her pillow accompanied by scary heavy breathing, supposedly that of the spider, heightens the suspense.
The unsuspecting victim thrashes and almost squashes her foe but he is too quick and makes a leap onto the edge of her perfectly fanned curls slowly creeping toward the tender flesh of her exposed arm. In one swift move forward he has landed on her arm, the camera pulls in close as fangs bear into her flesh. Her big dewy eyes open as she cries out in pain, bolting upright she lets go of a blood curdling scream, for while she was only once bitten, her bed is covered with converging spiders. End Scene.
I don't really know what happened only that I was bitten on my arm in my sleep...again! Spiders do not make good bedfellows. I had Handy Hubby flipping over furniture, emptying the closet, and vacuuming every nook and cranny...again. Sprays and sticky traps were set...again. Bug guy coming to spray inside and out...again. I learned an interesting fact, this is the time of year spiders try to migrating inside southern homes to quite cool dark places for the winter.
Here are some links to handy dandy keep away spider tips:
Both of these sources offer some really practical advice to keeping these pests at bay.
In my book, the only good spider is a dead spider!
(Tombstone charm display tags for charm swap)
Handy Hubby has taken to calling me Spider Woman, if only one of her super powers were to be mine at the moment it would be her ability to have immunity to all forms of non-corrosive toxins and poisons after an
initial exposure to them. These initial exposures make her dizzy, but
her metabolism quickly recovers and renders her immune to it. Unfortunately....
I was bitten on the inside back of my left upper arm, the venom has now spread from almost shoulder to elbow making an ugly red swath of orange peel skin in a 10 in. x 4 in. area. I have been one sick victim. Symptoms did not show up until about 6 to 8 hours after the bite and when they did they were severe. On top of a venomous poisonous bite and all its typical reactions, I had a severe allergic reaction that resulted in head to toe hives and anaphylactic shock. Two of the medicines I am taking to combat this, both of which I have taken before, also give me nice added side effects on top of the spider bite/allergic reaction side effects, one causing muscle cramping in my legs and lower back, the other giving me stomach pain, nice! After getting medical treatment I am playing the waiting game to see if this will be a best case or worst case scenario as to the possibility to skin damage to my arm where the venom has concentrated. Needless to say I am not feeling well, so, I'll be taking a blog break until at least some time next week while all the side effects and symptoms of both bite and medication work their way through my system.
I hope you are all enjoying the cooling temps, colorful displays, and spider free days, as we dip into autumn here in the US.
Blessings,
Sandy
Comments are closed on this post, due to illness and I am woefully behind on responding to recent comments. I do hope you will understand.
Comments are closed on this post, due to illness and I am woefully behind on responding to recent comments. I do hope you will understand.