The Itsy Bitsy Spider....

Dear Diary,

When I went out to water the railing boxes I spotted this crab spider patiently waiting on a marigold petal for some passing insect to land. They are sometimes called an Ambush Spider. They don't build webs but prefer to disguise themselves amidst the petals and just wait.

I am not a bit squeamish about spiders, or snakes for that matter. Just another creature trying to survive and they do good work keeping pestering insects off my flowers. Spiders surround us every day even if we don't see them. I read somewhere that chances are you are never more than 8 feet from a spider at all times! In an old farmhouse like this one that number is probably 4 or 5 feet. There are no poisonous spiders in Maine so this little fellow was just entertaining to watch although a bit camera shy. White spiders are rare around here.

Still praying for rain. They keep promising but none comes. I am watering every day. I can't lose all the new perennials I planted. The established ones are doing okay although they are beginning to show the effects of this drought. I can just take a page from the Ambush Spider's book...sit still, be patient and wait. It will come.