SEPTEMBER -The Mysterious Season of mist and Spiders
It was a sultry day after the sun had drunk the dew. The hedges in the hedgerow had been studiously fretted trim. But there, woven between the dew-laden branches were festoons of spider’s webs, far more than previous years, where the dew drops hung trembling on the translucent whisps, enhancing their beauty. There the spider will be waiting, just out of sight, and with the slightest vibration she will come to seize. They are resilient intricate artists and are adorned with many skills.
Geometry is the language of the universe where the abstract meets the concept. However, geometry in nature is a language I understand. I have learnt how mathematics in this world has helped to lay out all the plans for creatures, plants and humans, in all these there is symmetry as we know so well. Angles we find everywhere, circles, squares, rectangles, lines and tangents too. With her basing artistry I believe the spider has mastered practical geometry; with each web being slightly different in its design. It may not be noticeable, but the difference is there. There is a parable here – isn’t that how it should be? Each of our lives makes an indelible difference in this world.
Did you know that when a spider sits in the centre of her web with her eyes downcast, the weather will be sunny and bright. But if she should scramble, spinning her gossamer webs, putting down extra guide ropes to strengthen her web, then the weather would be blustery with wind and rain. This wonderful experience had halted me to a standstill and my eyes became moist, for as I entered this place, the mist had rolled in across the fields and enveloped the landscape in an eerie shroud. But as the lazy mist crept slowly on its journey, this wonderful sight gladdened my heart. With the vast array of spider’s webs and the hawthorn heavily laden with berries, the abundance and variety of fruits and nuts filling the lane all indicating that the forthcoming winter will be cold and harsh.
These clever, harmless little creatures which possess environmental value, they are educators, species indicators and nature’s weather forecasters. When eaten by birds they are a fast-acting protein-rich tonic, a wild medicine to aid their recovery during the stressful moulting season. Small mammals will also feast on spiders as part of a varied diet. The spider itself will happily feast on many types of flying insects which they capture in their sticky webs. After delivering a venomous bite, their prey is then wrapped in silk to keep it fresh and to protect their quarry from pilferers, it is then stored in their larder to be consumed later.
Spiders can give an indirect clue to wind direction by the orientation of their web. They favour constructing their webs in the lee of a building, trees or hedges, thus sheltering them from the prevailing wind. They can smell and detect the skirion winds, those bitterly cold north westerly winds. I admire and respect their tutelary spirit, adroitness of skill and how they diligently protect and guard their webs. But moreover, how they took advantage of every struggle that befell them, like the grass which confesses the influence of the slightest dew that falls upon it.
It has taken me a long time to learn and understand the spider’s intricate ways, and appreciate their significance in this world, but I understand it now. I believe these wonderfully wise creatures have more than paid rent for their space in this world, but I often wonder, have we? For the web of our lives is of mingled yarn, good and ill together.
