All about fog and spider eviction

So the fog is back in my neighborhood with a vengeance, and it’s freezing cold and windy as hell, which is as it should be in August in San Francisco. And I suppose I should be delighted, as this might mean that global warming doesn’t completely have us in its talons (the recent crazy heat wave and that bizarre 43-days-in-a-row-of-rain in March/April, notwithstanding), but it is, of course, driving me nuts.

         You can see the sky in the photo there: white. I took that shot (of my backyard) with my camera phone through my office window, and in the foreground is the tree the bluejays really seem to like—they sit in it and squabble—and in the background, there’s a big tree that looks like it’s wearing a hairnet, like a cafeteria lady, but that’s really just a spider web on the outside of my window. Up above is the white, white sky. And that orange thing is the reflection of my lamp, which was on all day, as it was dark all bloody day. A friend of mine came from San Ramon to visit me, and he was all, la la la, wearing shorts, because it was like 80 degrees there, and it’s only an hour and a half away from San Francisco. He was reduced to whimpers in a short time, and not in a good way. In a cold way.

         Ah, well. I’ve decided to work with the fog, the way I tried to work with that bright orange indoor/outdoor carpet that covered the floor of the bedroom of my first San Francisco flat— by surrendering to it. With the carpet, despite the fact that my whole being rebelled at the idea, I decorated with orange (you couldn’t cover the carpet—it was a huge room, a former basement, a bit mildewy, and it lacked a closet). With the fog, I lit candles everywhere in my flat, and listened to Debussy, and considered writing something Gothic, which might still happen. The foghorns are nice, though, and I’m hearing them now.

         Today, however, was the day I was forced to take Jennifer outside. Now, Jennifer is the spider who’s been living in the corner of my office window for some time.  I’m not a big fan of spiders, per se, but I’m very live-and-let-live, and a month or so ago, when a spider set up camp in the corner of the window, I decided what the hey—I’ll let it stay, as it seemed pleased with its sheltered spot (it would retreat down into the hole where the rope pulleys go into the windowframe—these are old windows that you push up), and it wasn’t bothering me or anything. I named it Jennifer, because it amused me to name it Jennifer and because it’s a pretty name, and I thought a spider might not mind having a pretty name. (It was a little benign brown garden spider.)

         So every now and then I’d see Jennifer pop out of her hole and walk around, then pop back in. And for a time the two of us civilly went about our business, and it was kind of a cozy arrangement. Very circle-of-life. But today I noticed that Jennifer had gotten…well, freaking HUGE. When did that happen? Um, sobering. Make that…unnerving. Seriously, any bigger and I would have had to start charging her rent. Upon reflection, I reluctantly decided I had reached my threshold of spider charity, and I needed to be a heroine and take her outside, even though I felt guilty about it. Not to mention squeamish.

         So I got a Tupperware container and gave her a little nudge with the lid…and she like, lifted one arm as if to give me the brush-off.  And beyond that, she didn’t even budge. Wasn’t one bit intimidated by me. It was almost insulting. So I nudged her again. She lifted two legs this time and waved them around a bit, and I swear to God, it was like the spider was indignant about being bothered. She’d gotten so comfortable with our arrangement, she probably just figured I’d finally get bored with annoying her and go away. And so I gave her one more push and she finally went scurrying like mad into the Tupperware container, and I took her out onto the back porch and tipped her out of the container.

         And she sat there for a time, right there at the doorway. I swear, I felt like a traitor. Like I’d evicted her. LOL. Ah, well. Still, I hope she didn't tell her spider buddies that I'm a sucker for nature. Godspeed, Jennifer the Spider. And have a grand weekend, everyone. Be kind to spiders, if you can. :)

Comments

[Jennifer Y.]

Hey, I share a name with the spider!

I had a spider that I named Harry living in my room...had to evict him as well when he decided to leave his post and crawl on me. Don't mind spiders as long as they are not crawling on me.

[Julie Anne Long]

Hey Jennifer! All the Jennifer's I've ever known have been quite sweet (Harry's a great name for a spider!), and my spider seemed like pretty good (well, at least unobtrusive) company...until she grew up. LOL. Apparently she moved into my apartment when she was a teenager, or something (in spider years) and I guess spiders keep growing until they die of old age or something like a bird eats them. And I have to tell you my scalp felt all crawly for hours after I put her outside. Like I kept expecting to find a spider on me. Poor spider. There's a good dark spot under the back stairs near the garbage cans...maybe Jennifer will make a home there. Might be an adjustment after hardwood floors, however. :)

[Lareign]

Julie, you're nicer than I am. Spiders creep me out. If I see them, I generally kill it. The only exception is if it's small and tiny and harmless, like the spider equivalent of a gnat. And even then, I often kill it. Because I am just too creeped out by them. Now, if I'm in bed and see a tiny bug crawling on my ceiling? I'm not gonna kill it. One, it's on the ceiling and tiny. Two, it's not very practical. My friend Ben, though, is like y'all. He'll be like, "Come here babe" and put a spider in a jar or his hands whatever and put it outside. He's sweeter than I am. He can't stand to see anything be killed.

My two cats tend to like to play with bugs, if they can find them. It's quite funny to watch. They're hilarious. The cats, that is. Not that bugs. And I wouldn't let them play with a spider. Spiders just...uhh. I've heard too many horror stories. Spiders must die. Okay, now I'm kind of skeeved out. The good thing about being on the second floor is I seem to get fewer bugs. Or maybe that's just me telling myself that.

On a happier note, Julie, the bookmarks arrived. They are quite lovely, and thank you very much. :)

[Isabel]

Too funny, Julie :)

I evict spiders from my place as soon as I discover them. The DH gets so freaked out by these multi legged little creatures he forgets to breathe. *sighs* Anyhow, Jaggers likes spiders very much I've come to find out, so it's really for the spiders' safety that they get relocated to the driveway.

Julie, isn't funny when people from the across the bay come to SF? As you said, here they come with their shorts, tank tops, flip flops only to have to offer them a jacket and a cup of hot chocolate LOL. It doesn't fail to amaze me :)

[Haven Rich]

One thing I've learned from living in San Diego is during the day you may want to wear shorts and tanks but if your not close to home you want to take a change of clothing to keep warm. The air from the ocean can chill things off quickly.

As for spiders...they gots to go! I'm normally ok with bugs and just tossing them out but spiders have no "get out of jail free" card with me. I see one and it's dead. Mainly because I'm allergic and that's all I need is a million spiders wondering around. Just the other day I saw one checking out my pictures on the ledge of the window and when I tried to move him (wasn't going to kill him cause he was neat looking) he jumped at me. I didn't scream, which is normal for me, but it annoyed me.

So after a few attempts to catch this dude I waited until the hubby came home and then he was sent to st. peter. Sorry dude but if you would have just held onto the paper you could have lived outside.

Jump at me, blasted critter. *squirm,shiver,shake*

[Julie Anne Long]

You guys are cracking me up! What a bloodthirsty bunch!! (Apart from the valiant Isabel. Men!! I tell you. What are they *for*, if not to put spiders outside??)

Actually, I'm teasing. You guys probably have scarier spiders in Texas (Haven and Lareign, you guys hail from there, yes? But Haven's in Louisiana now, right?) than we do here in CA. I googled California spiders before I allowed Jennifer to stay, and learned that poisonous ones around here are really, really rare. (Although I did once see a tarantula when I was hiking in Sunol, about an hour from here.) And in San Francisco, you don't get too many crawly things in the house, usually, because it's just too darn cold and wet. (When i was growing up in the burbs, we had more crawly things.)But now I have a backyard, and all that flora nearby means more fauna comes into the house. :)Yippee. As for my cat, he likes to chase moths and flies (outside), and only once in a blue moon catches anything. He started to chase a bee the other day, and the bee turned the tables on him and came at him and Domenic galloped hard in the other direction. LOL. Lesson learned. I think spiders freak him out. I don't want him eating them, because he'll barf them right back up. Sigh.

Naming that spider Jennifer was kind of my way of coping with my own spider issues. LOL. We all have our place in the food chain, and etc, and at first I thought there was something sort of touching about how the spider found such a great spot to live, where nothing could eat her. When she grew to nearly the lenght of my thumb, I discovered the limits of my tolerance, apparently. But I'm less creeped out now about taking them outside. I would probably pass out if one *jumped* at me though. Jesus God!! LOL. What kind of spider JUMPS???

Glad you got the bookmarks, Lareign! And yeah...weather-wise, more fog today in my 'hood. Which means it must be quite warm inland. But it's not as cold, at least, today. Visitors *never* believe me when I tell them it's cold here...it's hard to fathom that the weather could be so dramatically different in places just a few minutes apart, I guess. I've learned to *always* have layers on, here in SF. Sigh.

[Haven Rich]

There are actually several types of spiders that jump. They use it as a form of protection. Using the jumping as a type of intemidation(sp). And your right there are a ton of poisonous spiders in Texas (and your right, I'm not transplanted to LA).

I dont know if you've ever heard of them, but in Texas (I'm not sure about here) they have wolf spiders. These guys get huge and they are mean too. They will actually chase you. Think of them as the bull...they don't run for cover like some spiders. OHHH nooo they attack. And their two front legs?? are longer than the rest and they will raise them up like they are going to fight you. It's amusing, when your not running for your life.

[Sherrie Holmes]

Spiders! Ooh-hoo-hoooo! [shudder] I live in the Pacific Northwest and every fall they come into the house and bring their buddies. They hang out near the ceiling, drinking and belching and throwing their empties at me.

They seem to be growing bigger, too. The ones that get in the bathroom are terrifyingly large. And they won't die. I believe in live and let live, but when they chase me across the floor, that's it, dude. And I do NOT like them dropping down while I'm in the shower. There are still wet footprints on the ceiling from the last time that happened and I self-ejected from the shower.

I seem to be host to a sort of uber spider, because those huge hairy things pop back up out of drains after being flushed down, and when you spray them with Raid they just hunch their shoulders and laugh. A friend of mine who's a spider lover said they are very sensitive, and if you scream at one, it can die of a heart attack. Well, I've done plenty of screaming, believe me, and all it does is make them mad.

Hate spiders. If they're in the house and leave me alone, I leave them alone. But if they abuse their privileges and don't follow house rules--the most important one being "don't scare the house owner"--they're history. ~Sherrie

[Julie Anne Long]

Oh, Sherrie, you cracked me up!! Good to know I'm not the only one who accidentally plays host to arrogant spiders. And the image of a spider having a heart attack—clapping its little spider arms over it's heart and keeling over on its back with little x's over its eyes—oh man!! Also, I'll have you know I took a bath tonight (vs. a shower) thanks to your spider-dropping-down image. I think spiders *are* sensitive, though—there was one scurrying all over my bathtub once, and I kept trying to herd it into a tupperware container, and it was having NONE of it. I finally just sort of said, "I PROMISE I won't squish you. I just want to take you outside." And I swear it stopped scurrying and stepped into the container! Resignation, I suppose. It knew it couldn't win. LOL.

[Toni Blake]

Thank GOD you finally got that spider out of your house!

Toni (who learned about this spider back in July and was just as horrified then as I am relieved now ; ) )

[Kathy K]

Oh ladies, you slay me! I absolutely love the images "wet footprints on the ceiling" and Domenic as he "galloped in the other direction" away from a bee... ROFLMAO

I, on the other hand, like spiders; freaks the kids and husband out no end, but I'm fascinated by them. We have one or two in our living room; they're Zebra spiders - don't know if that a legitimate name, but they're black-and-white striped little guys. They don't build webs as they are a type of jumping spider; that's how they get their prey, they jump on 'em. They do a good job taking care of any insects that get into the living room and my plants are all in excellent health, thank you very much!

That's my good word for our eight-legged little pest removers!

TTFN! ^.^