Dear LPG,

I like to think of myself as having the experience to be able to deal with many situations because experience comes with age.  I now have quite a few years under my belt and,  as they say, you can’t have one without the other.   At my great age, I feel capable of talking about most things with a fair amount of authority and, faced with most predicaments, I think that my years of existence on this planet so far have equipped me with the relevant skills.

But having said that, my powers of resilience do have a few limitations and I would like to talk about one of them today.  I have to say that  as I talk about those often small things that put the fear of God into so many whatever their age, I can already feel the shivers in my shoulders.

In the past, I have to admit to deciding to sleep in the car for three weeks, having found one on my bedroom carpet, (even though I fought it with my Hoover and won).  There have been occasions when I have found it necessary to make alternative bathing arrangements for the day rather than use the bath after finding one there, and I have used my weight as ammunition to end a life all too often in the past, even though they are usually just going about their business.

Did you know that spiders are right up there in the ‘most common phobias’ top ten?  I think that it is the ‘wigglyness’ of their legs that do it for me (although I have to admit that even a still picture is enough to set me off!).  I can’t even watch them on television yet most of the ones we encounter in the UK are relatively harmless to humans, discounting the false widows.  I have to admit that I just have to see the wiggle to be freaked, and I have no time to work out which sort of spider I am looking at before screaming and reaching for the jam jar.  

But they eat many other pests making them eco-friendly and their venom  can be found in some medications.  I wish I could have the presence of mind to also remember their  age-old reputation for bringing good luck and financial prosperity with them when I encounter one, and I am getting better at it once the initial shock has passed.  So I suggest we be kinder to them, especially today.

Today is ‘National Save a Spider day’ and I am getting better at being kind.  I now have a jam jar ready to go in each room of the house and I have a rule that they have a right to live but not as an unpaid guest unless they can stay out of sight.

Even though I would rather not share my space with one, perhaps experience is teaching me to work at being kind to them (even if I have to do it while screaming all the way). 

TP, Grove Park

TP found us some information…

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