Making Peace

I am terrified of spiders. I don't know what it is; if they had 2 or 4 less legs they would be just like every other bug. I think it's the mobility that scares me. They are sort of like the Navy seals of bugs. After a rather alarming hiking incident a few years back I made a pact with them. The incident was this: I was hiking, I turned around and saw a daddy-long leg spider. I hiked a little more, and now there were 3, and they were PURSUING me. I stopped, they stopped. I went on a little, so did they. When I turned back around I could have sworn they were looking around whistling. When I told people about it, even my hiking companion (you know who you are), they didn't believe me. Well, I like a good joke as much as the next person. If I was a spider, and could tell human fear (which I think they can) I would probably gather my friends up and say, "Let's run after this chick. It'll be HILARIOUS." Not to mention the joke later where they all perched on top of the tent and their shadows looked giant on my sleeping bag. Yup, good times, daddy-os. Anyway, my pact was this...I will leave them alone. I will not kill their kind. Spiders have popped up in my life all over the place. When I was a kid they were on my pillow. In the bathroom? Scuttling across the floor. In a house, in a boat, in a car, with a goat. In school and in the pool. Trying to kill them is a hunt of unimaginable proportions. It's like a horror movie where the bad guy just won't die. The most dire situation is when you simply injure the spider and it runs away to gather ammunition for revenge. I decided it wasn't worth it. I'm not keen on killing things anyway. So I was not surprised to see two suddenly with no warning take up residence in the corner of my bedroom. And here is the thing. Have you seen a microscopic view of a daddy-long-leg? I was going to display one to show the horror. So I googled it. And I find myself strangely at peace seeing it's little wee turtle-shaped head. But if you look at it, it's really got quite a cute little face. (It's the tiny head poking out of the giant pink horrible sack). So my friend/savior Angela came to my rescue and scooped them up in a cup and threw them outside. And I felt a bit more at peace about it.