Arachne Weaves

About two weeks ago, I opened up the curtains in the library and saw this rather large brown spider scurry up her web. My first thought was to not open the windows; my second thought was, "What the heck kind of a spider is that?" I looked up images of the brown recluse and the wolf spider and it is (thankfully) neither of those things. I wasn't sure what it was until this morning, when I did a Google search on "brown spiders with brown and white striped legs." It's an orb weaver, known for its large, circular webs and is frequently seen in autumn, which officially started today (as our cooler temperatures can justify).

Let me tell you a thing about me and spiders. I really, really don't like them. I kill them when they get in the house (really, it's their fault, they intruded). I tend to just leave them alone when they're outside. In fact, there was a very beautiful green garden spider this summer by our tomato plant. I let it be. After all, it was outside. Spiders belong outside.

This orb weaver spider outside of our library is a type of spider I have never seen before. When I get home from work, I open up the curtains to let in some light and the spider goes scurrying up her web in alarm. I actually started opening the curtains just to see if she was still there. My husband said he would take care of her this weekend, but this morning I told him not to worry about it. She's outside. She has woven this huge and beautiful web. She's just hanging out there, catching bugs and chilling.

I did a little research on orb weavers. They are very helpful spiders because they eat mosquitoes. Those little blood-sucking fiends deserve to be eaten. I believe that is their only reason for existence, to feed larger bugs. Orb weavers are found just about everywhere in the United States. They are not venomous nor are they aggressive. She's really causing no harm to us by hanging around outside our library window. In fact, she's probably helping us by keeping our insect population in check.

I strongly believe in the spiritual symbolism of animals so I decided to look up spiders. There was one thing I knew for certain - a spider is one of the animals linked to the Greek Goddess Athena. I studied Greek mythology in ninth grade and she was always my favorite. There is a story in mythology that tells of Arachne, a mortal weaver who boasted she could weave better than Athena. Athena, by the way, is a Goddess of wisdom, weaving, and the intellectual side of war. There was a contest and Arachne wove a tapestry that, while beautiful, depicted the sins and secrets of the Olympian gods. According to the story, Athena was furious and turned Arachne into a spider. The name actually does mean spider in the Greek language.

The website I found is about totem animals and this is what it says about the spider:

"Spider: Creativity, Written Language, and Weaving Our Own Fate - Spiders, with so many multiples of eight, are linked to fate and destiny. They can spend a day weaving their web and if it doesn't work, untie it and let it float away. Spider can teach us to weave our lives, but we always have the ability to re-weave what we don't like. Spider in Native American myth and lore wrote the alphabet teaching the people to use words and writing. Spider can help you with your poses and poems creating new ways of expressing yourself. Creativity is always available when spider comes into your life."

Wow! That just fits perfectly. Our orb weaver is outside of our library, which is the creativity part of our house, according to feng shui principles. It is where our computer is so it's where I sit to write and to blog. I've also recently started listening to The Secret again in an attempt to remain more positive and create my life the way I want it. This all happened at the same time that the orb weaver showed up.

Animals of all shapes and sizes and species teach lessons, but only if we have the ears to hear, the eyes to see, and the heart to believe. They have a way of showing up in our lives exactly when we need it, like a message from our Creator telling us that we're on the right path, to keep up the good work, and to keep the faith.

And, by the way, we named her Gertrude.

Storytelling

Last night I went to a wonderful show. It's called The Unchained Tour and it's all about storytelling. The performers each had ten minutes to tell a personal story about something that happened in their lives. There were two musicians who would also play between sets. I have a deep love of storytelling and for me, this was one of the best shows to watch for inspiration. These performers are called raconteurs, and they told stories about going to school or meeting their spouses. Each performer told his or her story amazingly well, keeping my attention again and again.

The last performer of the evening was Neil Gaiman. Neil Gaiman is my favorite author. He can take the ordinary and turn it into something extraordinary. He is brilliant and funny and has written such wonderful books as American Gods, Stardust, and Neverwhere. He is also the writer of a highly successful graphic novel series called Sandman. He told a very moving story about going through a bad divorce and finding a dog that taught him how to just be happy in life. As a dog person, the thought of learning about life from a dog is an experience I can relate to. As a fan of Neil Gaiman, it humanized my favorite author. Often we put our favorite writers on pedestals and think of them as this beautiful, untouchable higher power that has been kind enough to grace us with whimsical nuggets of stories that we read and, for a time, escape into - which is what every good story should offer us, an escape. Any story that doesn't offer that is not worth reading.

I have admired Neil Gaiman for several years. The first book I read of his was Neverwhere, a story about a man in London who discovers a whole other secret, underground world living among the subway system. Currently we have just about every book of his in our library (we're only missing a few children's books). When my husband heard that he was coming to our city as part of this tour, he bought tickets for us right away. They were very inexpensive for the experience of an intimate night of storytelling. Tucked into my purse was a well-worn copy of American Gods, my favorite Neil Gaiman book and a book that got my husband through a difficult time in his life. We didn't know if we would get the opportunity to meet Neil Gaiman, and, if we did, we didn't know if he would be signing books. We were just happy to see him perform live. As I'd told my husband when he bought the tickets, even if Neil Gaiman only came out and talked for five minutes, that would be enough for me. It was enough to just see and hear an author who I loved and admired, an author who inspires me to write.

We arrived at the venue early and got front row seats with four of our friends, two of whom had also brought books to sign, just in case. The two musicians came on stage and the other performers walked in front of us to sit in couches. Neil Gaiman passed in front of me then. He passed in front of me again when they returned from a break. He came out and he told his story and the show finished. Some of the other performers stayed out but he went backstage. There was a young man who had a limited edition, hardcover copy of the Sandman graphic novels, and he gave it to another performer, who was kind enough to take it back and get it signed. We thought that it hadn't happened and we went outside, kind of talking about the evening and how much we'd enjoyed it. I heard that young man come out, and I heard him say that he had, in fact, gotten an autograph. We went back in.

The host of the show, Peter Aguero, came out of the back and I talked to him, telling him how much I loved the show and that I hoped he continued going with it (this was the third time The Unchained Tour has gone through the south but only the first time with Neil Gaiman). He said thank you and he hugged me and went outside for some air. A minute or two later, Neil Gaiman came out. He started walking towards the door and was stopped by someone, so we went around and came up next to him and waited our turn.

Neil Gaiman turned to me, smiled, asked my name, shook my hand. Somehow I managed to speak (I was afraid I wouldn't be able to). I told him that I admired him and how much I'd loved his story and how glad I was that he'd found happiness. I said that I had a book but it was okay, he didn't have to sign it. He signed it.

I left that encounter just glowing and giggling and completely and utterly geeked out. I sit here writing this and I still can't believe I got this opportunity. I have always wanted to meet Neil Gaiman and now I have, not at some gigantic convention or book-signing, but in a beautiful, intimate setting surrounded by others who love the magic of storytelling.

Someday there will be another young woman at a similar show, clutching a worn-out copy of a book and waiting, hoping that her favorite author comes out and that they'll exchange words and she'll get an autograph.

The author that she's waiting to meet will be me.

Autumn is Coming

To paraphrase Ned Stark from A Game of Thrones (and change the season) - autumn is coming. It feels so beautiful outside today. I love being able to finally open my windows and let some cool air in. Now let's just hope it stays this way! Weather in South Carolina tends to be on the milder side when it comes to the cooling down of autumn and winter (and on that winter note, I hope we actually have one this year).

I'm not sure how colorful the leaves will be this year. It's been a bit on the dry side. We'll try to go up to North Carolina and drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway at least one weekend in October. We might even make a camping trip out of it. There's nothing quite like the autumn color of the Blue Ridge. I think that to me, Heaven will look a lot like October in the mountains.

Autumn is also the time of harvest, the time to reap what you sow and prepare for the dark nights of winter ahead. It's a great time to look back on the year that's past and reflect on all the things that happened, whether they are good things or bad. Everything happens for a reason, and even if something seems really terrible at the time, it usually means something better came along after and the terrible time was just you learning to let go.

My husband and I got married in August and it was beautiful and wonderful and we're so glad that everyone could be there. My cousin is getting married in October and I wish I could go back to Iowa for it, but it's just not going to work out. I'm sad that I can't make it, but I know that her wedding will be just as beautiful and just as wonderful and that she's starting out on an amazing journey that I now find myself on as a new wife. I wish her all the luck in the world.

The leaves fall in autumn, drifting down on the back of the wind to cover the ground like a russet blanket. Life is like a leaf sometime. One by one, old pieces of you are discarded, falling into memory. You are constantly changing and growing in life, just like a tree. Admire a tree one day. Contemplate on how magnificent it is, one of the most marvelous living creatures on this planet. They can grow for so many years, getting taller and wider, forever rooted and yet constantly stretching. The path to enlightenment can be found in a tree. There was a reason that the ancient Celts held them in reverence. It might help us to do the same. A tree offers shade, it offers sanctuary, some offer food, and it offers fresh air for us to breathe. The world would be a sadder, more difficult place without trees. They are an important part of our ecosystem and vital to our survival. I love trees. There's nothing quite like a walk through a forest, no matter the season, marveling at the trees and the flowers and the life living underneath and among the branches.

Take time today to reflect on your own harvest. Did you plant the proper seeds? Do you feel fulfilled spiritually, emotionally, physically? If so, that's wonderful and rejoice. If not, then perhaps now is the time to change that, to make the decision that you will not settle for anything less than a perfect harvest.

Now is the time for cooler nights, for colored leaves, for football, for apples, for carving pumpkins and baking pies, for being thankful for all that you have. Enjoy your autumn! I hope that you always have a bountiful harvest full of love, joy, and peace.