Part of spider season is needing to check vehicle doors, handles, and such for stowaways. Wednesday, Kenn and I got in the car to run errands and I checked and didn’t see any spiders. I didn’t check well enough. A couple of miles down the road, I realized there was a young Golden Orb Weaver in the web it had spun between the mirror and door. Well, now that I knew it was there, there was no way I was getting out the way I got in. I was either going to have to climb over the center console and exit via the driver’s door or Kenn was going to have to rescue me. Kenn rescued me. When we reached our destination, Kenn found a stick and relocated the spider to a bush. I married a good man.🤣
This time of year we go from living in The Cabin to living in The Cabin in Spider Gulch without even moving. Spider season hits pretty much overnight. The spiders that “grace” us with their presence every year are Golden Orb Weavers and, they are EVERYWHERE. Female Golden Orb Weavers are more colorful than the males and are a great deal larger than the males. The females build large webs and there are usually a few small brown males living in the webs. (Apparently this keeps them from getting eaten.🤷♀️)
I didn’t know until this year that the females actually molt as they grow. Now, I didn’t learn this fact from researching Golden Orb Weavers; I learned it from Kenn’s daily Spider Update. “Ooooh. The spider outside the kitchen window (or bay window, or sliding glass door, or wherever) has molted again. She’s really getting big!” I shuddered just typing that. I have never been a fan of spiders; something about those eight legs just creeps me out. I have not witnessed the evidence of the molting, nor do I need to. Ick. Just ick.
Since the spiders are everywhere, we really have to watch where we’re going. The first person through the front door in the mornings needs to look carefully before leaving because there is a high probability that a web has been spun across the doorway overnight. Failure to check before exiting may result in a face full of web and/or spider. They also like to spin webs across the base of the staircase leading to the carport; I just take the long way around from the front of the deck in a effort to avoid webs. If one of these spiders gets on me, I will just expire on the spot. So, if I disappear, you know what happened,🕷️🕸️
On a completely unrelated note, we also have a plethora of tiny toads this year. Making it safely through the spider gauntlet to reach the carport means watching our step so we don’t crush baby toads.
Can you find the toad?
I enjoy living in a rural setting, surrounded by wildlife; I’m just not a fan of arachnids. So, do you have spider season where you live?
Love is… a lot of things. Love can be demonstrated through big, extravagant actions, but I tend to think that the small, quiet actions can often speak the loudest. Why? Because those small things show how well we know our partner, how well we see the little things that make their heart happy. Before I get into the heart of this post, you need to know a few things about Kenn and me: when it comes to music, our tastes are very similar – until they’re not. I like John Mellencamp; Kenn does not. Kenn loves Sting while Sting is the musical equivalent of nails on a chalkboard to me. I like what I call “fun” music. (Think Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham! and Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off.) I’m also old enough to have lived through disco and am not ashamed to say that I like it.
Kenn’s former guitar teacher provided him with a musical library on CD; it covered a wide range of decades and genres. On a recent trip to South Carolina to visit the kids, Kenn pulled up his library and said he had created a playlist for me; he set it to “shuffle” and hit play. I knew he had nailed it with the first song. As the music played, every couple of songs I pulled up the notepad on my phone and scribbled some notes. Kenn eventually asked what I was doing and I told him that I was making a list of all of the songs. When he asked why, I told him “because I want to remember; this is one of the sweetest things you’ve done for me.” I think he was surprised I felt that way, but I stand by my statement.
The songs on the playlist are (in the order they played):
YMCA by the Village People. Kenn does not share my love of the Village People, but he grinned as he drove while I did the arm motions for the song.
Annie’s Song by John Denver (IMO there are two singers who make singing seem effortless. One is John Denver, the other is Karen Carpenter.)
Somebody to Love by Queen
Disco Inferno by The Trammps
More Than A Woman by the Bee Gees
Wild Montana Skies by John Denver
That’s the Way (I Like It) by KC and the Sunshine Band
Killer Queen by Queen
Trying to Get The Feeling Again by Barry Manilow
Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen
Can’t Smile Without You by Barry Manilow
Open Arms by Journey
All Out of Love by Air Supply
I’m Sorry by John Denver
Calypso by John Denver
In the Navy by the Village People
Looks Like We Made It by Barry Manilow
Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees
Lost in Love by Air Supply
How Deep is Your Love by the Bee Gees
Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
Making Love Out of Nothing at All by Air Supply
Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen (My favorite Queen song)
Back Home Again by John Denver
Another One Bites the Dust by Queen
It’s a Miracle by Barry Manilow
Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey
Still the One by Orleans (This is “our song.”)
Saturday Night by the Bay City Rollers (In my early teens I was a die-hard Roller fan. The walls of my room were covered with BCR posters.)
Mandy by Barry Manilow
Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl) by Looking Glass
Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen
Daybreak by Barry Manilow
You’re My Best Friend by Queen
Get Down Tonight by KC and the Sunshine Band
(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty by KC and the Sunshine Band
Evil Woman by Elecric Light Orchestra
I’m Your Boogie Man by KC and the Sunshine Band
We Will Rock You by Queen
Even Now by Barry Manilow
Who’s Crying Now by Journey
We discussed the list and I told him he could remove Disco Inferno, but that there are a few artists I’d like to have added such as the Carpenters and the Eagles. We also agreed that Elton John and more ELO would be good. Then I told him that I’m indifferent to the Bee Gees; I don’t hate them, but I don’t go out of the way to listen to them either. I told him that I wasn’t sure why he had recently decided that I’m a big Bee Gees fan. He just looked at me in stunned silence and finally managed to say, “It’s not just recently. I’ve always thought you like the Bee Gees.” Nope.
Originally this post would have ended here. However, Kenn came home from an estate sale last weekend with these gems for me.🥰
I will be investing in some album frames so I can hang them on the wall in my game room. Side note: I did not know until I read the album covers that the Village People had recorded Just A Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody so I looked it up. David Lee Roth did it better.🤷♀️
Last weekend we made a day trip to participate in the first birthday celebration for Kenn’s great-nephew. We spent a few minutes visiting Kenn’s brother and sister-in-law where we discovered the poorest excuse for an outdoor ceiling fan we’ve ever seen.🤣
Linda Lou's Life 