And I shan't bite you!

-
When I was a child, I had arachnaphobia. BAD. I would see a spider and scream for my mother to come and get it. She would get this evil look on her face as she grabbed a tissue and pretend she was going to drop it on me. I know she was sort of joking around, but that is not nice to do when your kid is freaking.

I also remember that science fiction movie about the giant spider. I can't recall its name, but if you were born earlier than the 60's, you probably know this movie, the black and white movie with the giant hairy spider that knocked over cars and sent people screaming in the streets? No one made me watch that movie, I just had this sick fascination about the very object of my fear.

One day when I was about 5 or 6 I did something really bad and my father took me outside and made a bed in the garage out of cardboard. That was to be my sleeping spot for the night. I was horrified only because I KNEW there were spiders in the garage and they were out to get me. I was sure they were going to band together and drop on my head while I was in there. I don't remember how long he left me out there; I never forgot the punishment, though I long forgot the crime.

After we left Long Island we moved to the woods at the base of Panther Mountain in the Catskills. Talk about SPIDERS...they grew GIGANTIC there. Those hairy jumping spiders that lived in the wood pile, waiting for you to grab the wrong log for the wood stove...and the giant garden spiders with webs the size of Hollywood!

Nowadays I am not so scared of spiders. They live and reproduce in my studio, and I only sweep them out when things are out of control. I figure they eat the other bugs that seek refuge there, and that can't be all bad.

Todays card celebrates the tarantula. They are actually quite beautiful. And they won't bite you unless you frighten them I am told. This card is on ebay, but it might not be there for long...............patti

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

La Cucina

-
Image
Tonight my house had the aroma of olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and candles. Keith Jarret was playing in the background, and I had just opened a nice bottle of reasonable red wine. (Osborne Solaz, 2004 Temranillo/Cab- 7.00) I needed it for the sauce, so why not have some while cooking! I took good care of myself all weekend, and felt like cooking for the first time in what seems forever. I am an excellent cook. A collage cook one might say, or better yet, a bricollage cook. I take what is in the house and make a dinner out of it. I think about flavor, texture, color and variety. Most of the time I would rather put this creative energy into visual arts, but on occasion I will push my fine art aside, and the art of the evening is cooking. Candles, music, wine, and a lovely table. I must think more like Monet, and not only make the meal art, but somehow make it my visual art too. The best I could do was a photo of the beginning of the sauce. It looks rather bizarre if you ask me,...
Read more

I Don't Want to Get Any Older - I Want to Stay Just the Way I Am

-
Image
Such words of wisdom in the kitchen between Larry and Alanna yesterday. "I don't want to get any older Yiyi, I don't want to be a mommy, I want to be just the way I am." Funny that a four year old should be thinking of such heavy matter during the Christmas Season. I sat for a few moments, going back decades, digging deep in the vault of my childhood memories, remembering what it was like to be four. whooooossshhhhhhh I am watching our black and white TV, and I flash between visions of the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz and the bogeymen from the March of the Wooden Soldiers. I am looking out the window into the dark inky sky of Christmas eve, believing that if I concentrated hard enough, I could make Santa and his reindeer appear flying between the twinkling stars. (ps I used that concentration when I fished all those years ago with #1 - to get the fish to come to MY lure....) I am lying in bed trying to go to sleep on Christmas Eve. I feel like I am on speed,...
Read more

Sunday Ramble

-
Image
In yoga today my teacher talked about acceptance of life and of self, something which is a challenge to both the young AND the old. I was thinking about that yesterday when I was passed by my new full length antique mirror which leans against the wall in my hallway. I pass it from the shower to the bedroom every morning. Sometimes I stop and look and remember when I had the body of a runner, when there was no inch of pinch, or bulges, or dimples. Now, I look and chuckle, noting the attack of cellulite, the bumps, lumps, scars, spots, and veins, though if I squint my eyes and keep the light off, I can still see the framework of that runner’s body. I chuckle now because I am comfortable about my body. It took 50 years…many wasted with negative thoughts about my self which were so crazy. Part of my acceptance might also be the unconditional love that I have in a man who loves me for who I am and never says a thing that isn’t kind. (sometimes I hate that Larry..because it makes me loo...
Read more