Susan of Phantsythat blog, posted this image, which sent my shoulders into spasms when I saw it. The artist is Michael Sowa.
...
I am such a coward when it comes to spiders...and snakes, but we won't go there just now.
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Last fall, as the weather grew cooler and the crickets started coming indoors, large wolf spiders followed their food source into my home. Now, the crickets stay in the basement, but the wolf spiders like to explore.
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One explored its way into my bedroom, up the leg of my bed and under the covers. While it wasn't as large as the one AWB (A Write Blog) encountered in the shower in France when he was a lad, it was enough to make me scream at the top of my lungs and run downstairs.
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That night The Crow was The Chicken.
34 comments:
It is 11.17 pm and very dark here. Quiet too.
The shadows suddenly seem to hint at a hidden threat.
And I am going to have nightmares.
.....sure I heard a rustling sound.
AWB:
Then, Sir, I have accomplished my mission.
Your friend, and obedient servant,
The Chicken
(Need I add, 'Sleep tight, and don't let the bedbugs bite'?)
:D
I have some postcards by this artist, or used to. Have to go find them now.
Methinks you should rethink your feelings about spiders: http://wolfs_moon.tripod.com/SpiderTotem.html
But who's being threatened? The spider seems as surprised to discover the humunculi as they are going to be when they wake up. Perhaps you should run this one again as one of those What Happened Next? features.
Although I love all creatures, I must admit, spiders, especially big ones, make the hair go up on my arms and give me a violent and involuntary shiver!
creatures of the night are with us more than you think.....sleep tight, jack c
Homunculi incorrectly spelt. The perils of being a smart-alec.
Two homunculi, one pair of slippers! To say nothing of one pair of tights! Signficant? I have always loved Michael Sowa.
yup... that's about enough to make me never go to sleep again!!!
btw... did you know that the average person eats five spiders during their sleep over the course of a year!?! well that's what they say...
;0
Ahh! I missed this til now. How cool. I'm not a spider fan and there have long been rumors of the brown recluse spider that hides in dark corners of bedrooms in Oregon. Apparently this is apocryphal and none are native to the area but the aggressive house spider, or hobo spider, and black widow spider occur commonly in association with human activity and present a real danger in terms of bites.
There's a good reason they give some of us the heebyjeebies. When I first found this image it was on a greeting card at Powell's and the spider had a glued on black fuzzy patch. Ew.
That picture was wonderfully horrid. I liked the soothingness of the the sun streaming in the window and the cozy wallpaper juxtaposed against that spider....
as a woman who will not park a car near a bin that has a bee flying above it, I have to say that this image was brutal... at least the beast is creeping... but it is quite versatile!!
Wolf spiders should have their own lovely little island to live on...far, far away. We have one living in our basement-the size of a miniature pony. There is no lolligagging over the washer and dryer by the grrrrls in our home:>)
I probably will regret posting this out loud...but I made a sort of pet of a spider once.
My husband was driving truck, and I was still attending UM. There was this spider who used to follow me around. I'd go to bed, and when I woke up, the spider would be on the ceiling above my head...when I'd be studying in the living room, she'd be on ceiling above my head.
I actually started talking to her. She hung around for maybe 2 months, and then disappeared.
Usually, when I come across a spider, I catch it and put it outside, but for some reason...this spider made me feel like I had a friend around.
I'm pretty down with spiders but most of them are harmless--until they reach the size of a bear! From the name, sounds like wolf spiders pack a bite?
Like the sighting of any other wildlife, seeing a spider can be a good sign, even if they creep you out!
People see birds, for example, all the time. Robins abound. But when someone sees an eagle, they say, ":Look at that, an eagle!"
Why can't it be this way for spiders? And maybe it is for some people.
We have spiders here, but I never pay them much mind. I suppose if they were crawling all around and I was getting bit I'd make a bigger noise about it. We have these beetles here that look like lady bugs with a small tail sticking out. They bite and are a PITA. I smash them when I see them inside.
I like your crow.
I live in spider heaven. They love my place and most of them when found get gently removed in a kleenex to the great outdoors. But this is Brown Recluse territory and they scare me. If I can't identify a spider it'd likely to end up squished in a wad of toilet and tossed in the toilet to get quickly whooshed down the drain. But the spiders that send me into the hair stand on end terror is the Black Widow. Man they terrify me. Snakes not so much.
Don't forget that cool spider in... What's the name of the story about the piglet that had a friendship with a spider?
Zhoen: I like his work, too. I think it was Harlequin who posted his sinister Easter Bunny painting several weeks ago that introduced me to Sowa's sense of humor. I'll see if I can find his postcards in local stores.
:)
Kali:
I followed the link you gave and was delighted to read about spider totem.
I try my best not to kill spiders, for I know their value in the environment and appreciate their variety and beauty. There is no rational explanation for the heebie-jeebies they give me. Must have had a very unpleasant encounter with one at a very young age. I've been bitten by spiders several times...always unpleasant results.
:)
Dear Friend BB:
That 'what happened next' device is one our local writers group used to help spur us to write outside our comfort zones. Always a lot of fun.
I don't think you're a smart-aleck, and thanks for adding to my vocabulary.
:)
DeeDee:
ME, TOO!!
:)
John:
How can I sleep tight after that comment?!
:D
Joe (Plutarch):
I was so focused on the spider that I hardly noticed anything else!
Those tights appear to be women's pantyhose, so I'm guessing she lay them on the chair to dry after rinsing them out.
Or, maybe they're his, and he uses them to protect his legs from jellyfish stings when he goes surf fishing...which also explains only one pair of slippers - his are swim fins, which lie flat on the floor and are in the shadows underneath the bed. He keeps them there to swat at spiders on the wall.
Nah...probably not.
:)
Susan:
Uh...maybe I won't try to find his cards, after all. That's taking realism to an uncomfortable length for me.
Double ew-w-w!
:)
Maria:
I think you nailed what it is that disturbs me so about Sowa's painting. It is the illogical, almost demonic, pairing of comfort, safety and cozy with diabolical, menacing and frightening.
:)
Harlequin:
I have a small colony of carpenter bees in my old smokehouse/tool shed and when they are out and about, I go around the carport to avoid them. They don't sting, but they will defend their hive and they hurt like the dickens when they dive bomb your face and ears.
Otherwise, I like them very much, the way they lumber about, like large bee buses - especially when laden with pollen. (I guess that's pollen on their legs.)
:)
Distracted:
Spider Island...not on my bucket list, thank you very much!
:D
Catnapping:
Are you sure she wasn't measuring you to determine how big a web she'd have to spin to catch you?
I also try to remove spiders to the outdoors, although I leave those in the basement to take care of the silverfish and those long-bodied, transparent, many-legged, creepy-crawlies that like damp places.
:)
EcoRover:
For their size, wolfies have fangs that would rival those of a gaboon viper. See the fangs here - (http://www.azdrybones.com/images/Gaboon-Viper.jpg). See a wolfie, similar to the one in my bed, here: http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/files/images/wolf%20spider_0.preview.jpg.
Although they can and do bite, their toxin is not a serious threat to humans, or so my Spiders of North America book tells me. Not sure I believe that.
I'm not kidding about the relative fang size, by the way. This specie of spider is called wolf because they hunt, track, rather than build webs or traps to catch their prey...and maybe because they're so hairy. Not to mention that shrill howl they emit when they go out at night, looking for food.
:)
Utah:
That was "Charlotte's Web" and the pig's name was Wilbur...I think.
I feel about spiders the same way I feel about snakes: they belong outside, as far away from me as possible and I am not as startled by them if I see them first at a distance. If they surprise me, then I invariably run screaming in the opposite direction. Can't help myself. I know it's silly of me, but atavisitc fear does that to me.
What can I say? I'm a big wuss when it comes to spiders and snakes.
;D
Jon:
Thank you so very much for that lovely thought!
I'm going to get a Hannibal Lecter mask and fit it with micron mesh over the mouth, so I can sleep in peace.
If I ever go to sleep again...
:D
Spadoman:
I cannot explain why spiders creep me out the way they do. If I see them at a distance, so that I have time and space to avoid them, I'm fine. It is when I am surprised by them that unnerves me.
I like insects as much as I do anything else (and yes, I know spidies aren't insects, but I lump 6 and 8 legged creatures together...makes categorizing them in a hurry a little easier), and do appreciate their function in the greater cosmic scheme of things. Just don't surprise the life out of me when I turn down the bed sheets, thinking all's right with the world and it is now okay for me to lie down, close my eyes, and set aside (for awhile) my responsibility to keep the rest of the world safe from all harm.
Being a superhero doesn't mean I am perfect, you know. I mean, even Superman had his kryptonite, did he not?
:D
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