Friday, July 17, 2009

Opportunist

The Arroyo is arrayed with spider webs. They dangle like ornaments from the branches of innocent trees who have no idea of their complicity.

25 comments:

Dina said...

Words and picture are so poetic.
Beautiful.
Shabbat shalom, dear Petrea.

Did you see Sarah started a new blog?

eamon@ewmphotography said...

The spider worked hard to produce that one. A master weaver.

Shell Sherree said...

Thank you, Petrea - you've reminded me of Charlotte's Web!

Hilda said...

Spiders are some of my best friends!

Petrea Burchard said...

I did see, Dina. It's good to have her back. Dina and I are speaking of a blogger in Mashhad, Iran with whom we've become friends.

It's amazing, Eamon. The Arroyo is full of them and the light catches them through the trees. It's dry here, so the dust catches them, too. Or they catch the dust.

Shell, I wonder if I never read it or if it's just been too long so I don't remember it. I should read it again, either way.

Me too, Hilda. And the LA/Pasadena area is spider city! We do get black widows and brown recluse spiders, which are dangerous. But most others I welcome.

John Sandel said...

Spiders amaze. They've been around for millions of years, unchanged, as various evolutionary experiments have blossomed and died. Perfect example of how, given sufficient materials and dumbfounding lengths of time, the forces of chance can produce successful designs. Turns out "blind watchmaking" is the best way to keep everything running, in an unattended cosmos.

fling!

Petrea Burchard said...

Finally, J+P got a WV that means something.

Unknown said...

I really like this one. Great capture.

Laurie Allee said...

I took a very similar shot the other day, P! I am always amazed at the amount of spiders here in the summer.

Jean Spitzer said...

I love the web within the tangled branches.

HearkenCreative said...

Lovely.

I mostly enjoy spiders, even though I have more than my fair share (two large trees tower over our house, and the spiders love those trees!). But this week one of them went too far: I had a PTA board meeting in my living room, and one proceeded to march right through the middle of the meeting like he owned the place. Unfortunately/fortunately, the woman in charge of the safety subcommittee cut short the spider's stroll through our meeting...

But I love spiders. They have many homes in our yard. And they do a decent job of keeping the rest of the insect population manageable. My daughter loves tarantulas, but they don't make lacy webs like the one in this picture...they make cool welcome mat webs on the ground.

Maria said...

spiders...hmmm i have mixed feelings, but i must say this shot is tres cool.

Susan C said...

I've never seen a web like this. It reminds me of a driftwood and macrame piece from the 70s.

Bellis said...

I always say "sorry" when I have to move a web to walk down my garden path, but I bet the spider's thinking "Sorry isn't enough," because it will have to weave that web all over again, and go hungry for hours.

Petrea Burchard said...

We get "wolf spiders," gentle giants who keep other bugs away. They used to freak me out but I've learned not to mind them.

I'm coming to you from the Pasadena Central Library, where they're shooting scenes from TV's "Ghost Whisperer." It's charming to see crew guys tiptoeing through the library wearing their utility belts.

Bellis said...

Oooh, I love those utility belts!

Petrea Burchard said...

Ooooh! Hello, Bellis. How nice to see you.

I tried taking a photo inside and they asked me not to. I got a nice one outside but I don't know if I got any utility belts in it. Really they're just tool belts, aren't they? But calling them utility belts makes the crew sound like the superheroes they are.

Petrea Burchard said...

By the way, speaking of opportunists: J spotted the spiderweb pictured here, pointed it out to me and said, "opportunist." I ran with it.

Susan Manning said...

Just love to speak to the spiders and all the little insects that seem to feel that my space is their space..HAH! Yet, lately I've had some friends who have had some serious bites...from perhaps spiders or ticks, they couldn't tell. Big time ding to the immune system, so friends or no, I simply relocate who I can and request the nature beings leave lots of room for them so we can live on this planet together and appreciate the good of all....but those bites..ugh!

John Sandel said...

I was talking about the spider.

… or was I?

Shanna said...

I read Charlotte's Web as a child and am always sorry when I have to, uhmm, kill certain ones. My home/studio is in a heavily treed(is that a word?) area and we have a constant battle going on. I mean - enough is enough. I did have an ugly (blah) reaction to some bite.

It was the black widows that I had to get rid of at my old store-front studio on Figueroa that bothered me. They never would attack. They would just hang there upside down with hour glass visible until I got around to (sigh) dealing with them or rather it.

My trick now with the ones I get inside is to spray them with Resolve. Yep. That carpet cleaner works and doesn't wreck my lungs.

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks for the tip, Shanna, I'll try it on the next black widow I see in the basement. My husband also uses Windex to kill flies. It's effective.

John Sandel said...

Hey, I'm a pacifist. Flies get dirty—I'm just trying to get a shine on 'em. Y'know—spiff 'em up a little. (They don't call 'em "bluebottle" for nothing.)

… proel …

Unknown said...

I like everything on this post: photo, title and comment too!

Petrea Burchard said...

Why thank you, JM.