I got up early yesterday. I know. According to Chris I get up early every day. But this time I added an extra thirty or forty-five minutes to my time. Actually, my body is still having a hard time getting accustomed to the return from Daylight Savings Time. Anyway, since I was up early anyway, I used the time to work on the Bible study for home group. I already had the baseline done. Just needed to go over it again.
When
Chris woke up and joined me, we decided to get our walk in. We had to hurry it up, though. A front was on its way in. We watched the really angry-looking, dark
clouds approach. It was ominous. Pretty mean look for what was touted as a
so-called “mild” front. We made it home
before it blew in with a vengeance.
Strong North wind. Cool air. Not much rain. But something did fall into our yard.
I
was in the office working when Chris called me back into the bedroom. She said she had something she wanted me to
see. Intrigued, I followed her voice, and
gazed out the window with her. And what
to my wondering eyes should appear, but a … spider. But this was not just any spider. There, standing on our lawn, glowering at us
with eyes hidden amongst a mass of blackness, was a huge black spider. And did I mention that this spider was huge? It was just a little bit bigger than … well, it
was bigger than Freddy. Furry. Black.
White markings on its back. This
was one for the record books, to be sure.
Fearing that no one would believe such a surreal encounter, I hurried
outside to see the creature up close and personal. And it was … kind of cute. All furry and cuddly-looking. Casting all caution aside, I approached. What was the worst that could happen?
Slowly
I reached down to touch our new neighbor.
The cool breeze continued to blow, and he wiggled ever-so slightly at my
approach. Closer and closer. Still, he stood there, seemingly rooted to
the very soil. Finally, my hand was
right next to him. Gingerly, I tapped
one of his long, hairy legs.
Nothing. I tried another. Still, he didn’t shrink from my efforts at
communication. Finally, I took a chance
and stroked his back. At least I thought
it was his back. With all that hair, I couldn’t
really tell. I might have been stroking
his forehead, or poking him in the eye, or placing my finger right in his unseen,
gaping mouth. Still, he remained,
unfazed by my approaches. That’s when I
had a somewhat foolish idea.
See,
one pet we have never had over the years was a spider. We had dogs and a cat and a bird. Nathan even raised cockroaches for a
while. But never a spider. If I could just carefully pick this guy up
and get him into a box, we could get one of those aquarium things to keep him
in. But he was so big. Could we find one large enough? Hey, you never know until you try,
right? Why not …
Again,
ever so carefully I reached down with my full hand this time. Slowly my finger closed around his furry middle. Another chilly breeze, almost an omen,
perhaps? His fur seemed to rise at my
touch. Using both hands now, I lifted
him off the ground. He seemed to be
enjoying the attention. This was no
ordinary spider. I walked with him back
into the house. Chris stayed far away,
no doubt regretting her earlier decision to show me something. Once inside I placed him on the carpet in the
office. Freddy had greeted me at the
door, extremely interested in this new interloper of her domain. Slowly she approached, sniffing in the way of
all dogs. What manner of beast could
this be that was bigger than her by at least a third? Closer and closer, until … well, let’s just
say Freddy made an instantaneous decision to abandon all efforts at
hospitality. She ducked her tail between
her legs and backed out of the room.
What was this creature that held such power over even the tiniest
canine? Extraordinary.
Of
course it wasn’t ordinary. Anyone who
follows the news knows that our Island has been overrun by an unusually large insect
population. Lizards the size of a small
child. Mosquitoes that … well, now that
I think about it, the mosquitoes have always been a bit … over-sized. And this onslaught of weird creatures began
about twelve or thirteen days ago. It
seemed to have subsided some, but obviously not completely. Not with the mysterious appearance of this gigantic
spider. We found a place for him to stay
until we can figure out if his size is merely a genetic mutation or … something
more sinister. I anticipate government
scientists to be knocking at our door any day now. Where can I hide my research …
Genesis
1:24 says, “And God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according
to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the
wild animals, each according to its kind.
And it was so.’”
Father,
thank you for all of your creation. And
thanks for chance to have fun in creative ways.
Amen.
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