Dominic's latest conquest

[Scott]

The daddy longlegs to which you are likely referring is different from Trish's Marigold, Lady Jules. The arachnids most Americans refer to as daddy longlegs aren't actually spiders at all. Despite their spiderlike appearance, they're actually more closely related to scorpions. They are also incapable of spinning webs.

Just a nerdy little factoid I thought I'd throw out there.

Good heavens, glad I didn't know that decades ago! I've always been phobic of spiders, and spent the final week of summer camp sleeping ABOVE the sleeping bag. One day the bag was unzipped and a huge "daddy longlegs" sauntered inside and remained. I wasn't going to tackle removal, and was far to proud to ask a counselor for help, so I resolved to ignore the beast and freeze during the night!!

 

[Scott]

Trish, always enjoy your beautifully narrated stories! Dom has that typical Too mindset of conquering any and all adversity, particularly when he knows a boundary is broached.

 

[Anansi]

The daddy longlegs to which you are likely referring is different from Trish's Marigold, Lady Jules. The arachnids most Americans refer to as daddy longlegs aren't actually spiders at all. Despite their spiderlike appearance, they're actually more closely related to scorpions. They are also incapable of spinning webs.

Just a nerdy little factoid I thought I'd throw out there.

Good heavens, glad I didn't know that decades ago! I've always been phobic of spiders, and spent the final week of summer camp sleeping ABOVE the sleeping bag. One day the bag was unzipped and a huge "daddy longlegs" sauntered inside and remained. I wasn't going to tackle removal, and was far to proud to ask a counselor for help, so I resolved to ignore the beast and freeze during the night!!

Hahahahahaha! But Scott, your phobia is of spiders! Wouldn't knowing that it wasn't a true spider have helped?

I laughed as I read your account, because I know just how gripping those phobias can be... now. As a child? Not so much. I remember sitting in the back seat of my best friend's mother's car as she was driving us some place or the other for one of our epic toy battles.

So I opened my bag, eager to share with my friend the treasures within. His eyes went wide and he hurriedly, even desperately, snatched the bag from me and closed it.

Ooooooooookay, I thought.

In an urgent whisper, he explained that his mother was deathly afraid of snakes. I just laughed and pointed out that the cobra in my bag was made of rubber, and that there was no way she'd be afraid of it.

He shook his head, and tried in vain to make me understand the importance of what he was trying to tell me. Amused by his youthful nonsense, I simply snatched the bag back from him, thrust my hand inside, and pulled free the rubberized terror that waited within. My friend made a valiant effort to stop me, but my determination to show him the error of his ways was too great.

I called out to his mom, who was tragically unaware of the hushed conversation we'd been having in the back, and told her I had something to show her.

"What, honey?" she asked, oblivious.

So I showed her.

The blood-curdling scream that followed was almost drowned out by the loud screech of tires as cars swerved desperately out of the way to avoid her car... which was now being directed solely by the dictates of the road and the varied imperfections of its less than smooth surface. My friend's mother had, after all, long since given up control of the car so that she might gesture inarticulately in her mind-numbing fear... which is how we wound up in the oncoming traffic lane.

Finally comprehending the magnitude of just how very wrong I was, I retrieved my snake and banished it to the bottom of my toy bag... even as I assured my friend's mother that the snake was gone.

She regained control of herself, and the car, just in time to avoid us becoming one with the utility van that had been hurtling our way. (Well, I suppose we were the ones hurtling its way, but either way it wouldn't have ended well.)

After that incident, I developed a healthy respect for the power of phobias. They are no joke!

 

[Betrisher]

I think it's so sad that spiders get such bad press. They're very interesting and if you study them for long enough, they have their own little spidery personalities. It's what makes a visit to the dunny something of a wilderness adventure at our house. I love watching Marigold bandaging her prey items! If I'm honest, I also love watching Rosalie insinuate herself onto Marigold's web to steal the aforementioned lunch. I don't know why people acquire arachnophobia, but my daughter has it by the shovelful! I can't believe a child of mine would be scared of an innocuous little thing like a spider, but there it is. She's been like it since birth, but no one else in the family is scared of spiders, so go figure.

Stephen, I have one of those magnetic doorway jobbies on the laundry door. It worked fine until Barney and Madge shredded it. Not so much any more. I thought of using the bead-string idea, but realised Dommie would eat that in no time flat. I'm currently wondering about the sort that uses thick strips of clear vinyl - or a holland blind. The bald fact is, that old nightie cannot stay there! It's an apostasy!

I loved your snake story! I don't know why people carry on about those, either. When I was a child I shared my passion for animals with the kid who lived across the street. We spent many satisfying hours together catching frogs and lizards and even ants, which we housed in large coffee jars full of dirt. For my tenth birthday, darling Russ (that was his name) walked all the way out to Edgeworth and back to get me a beautiful Diamond Python as a gift.

Tragically, his Mum found it in its gunny sack under Russ' bed and screeched fit to wake the dead. She made him walk all the way back to Edgeworth and give the snake back, telling him my Mum would never permit me to own a nasty, slimy snake. Sadly, this was only too true.

Now, these fifty years later, Russ still lives in his parents' house and it's absolutely chockablock full of native and exotic snakes. Russ is still my very dear and oldest friend and he lets me play with his snakes whenever I visit. Oddly, my silly daughter loves the snakes but still can't bear spiders. Sigh.

 

[RavensGryf]

Stephen OMG! Thank goodness your friend's mom didn't crash the car with all of you inside ! It's a funny story though, it gave me a good laugh .

 

[SoCalWendy]

You really should write a book. Your post keep me entertained