Spider in the shower

Last week as I was about to step into the shower, Kristie was talking about a spider in there that almost got a smaller spider. Evidently, Kristie spotted the larger spider going after the little one and began to blow at the larger one to keep it away from the smaller one.

I was dumbfounded. "You mean there's a spider in the shower?" I asked.

"Yes. She's been there for quite awhile. Her web is in the upper left corner."

What???

Now, I should tell you that for some strange reason Kristie has no fear of spiders. Moths? Yes. Spiders? No.

Does that make any sense to you?

So whenever Kristie, Casey, or KoKo see a spider, they never do what normal people do: run for a shoe and squash it on the spot.

I think this can be traced back to Ed, Kristie's father, who is always quick to point out how many spiders can be found per square foot in the world.

Yes, they eat insects and anything that lessens the world's population of mosquitoes can't be all bad. But just the mere sight of a spider gives me the creeps.

Now, I'm not as bad as some. Shane, a former coworker of mine at the highway department, had a dreadful phobia of them. Even harmless spiders like a daddylonglegs.

So I'm not opposed to spiders. I am just opposed to sharing my room - not to mention my shower - with one.

But now here was Kristie talking about this spider as if we had a new pet. Later I asked Casey about this and he said, "Oh, yeah, she's been there for a few weeks now!"

What???

Since I'm as blind as a bat (and speaking of bats, no one can poke fun at me for how much I like bats or let them roost in the chimney in the last summer - they eat a thousand times the insects all of the spiders in our house could possibly consume), so obviously I never saw the thing.

But now I keep an eye on her every time I shower. Actually, when she is in her cocoon like web, she isn't so big. When she ventures out, which, thank God, is rare when I'm in the shower, she is quite a bit bigger.

"How far does she travel?" I asked Kristie.

"Oh sometimes she gets close to the sponges." The sponges hang in the center of the back of the shower.

"If I see her there, she's dead."

Can't wait for her eggs to hatch!