Can he swing from a thread, Take a look overhead

Last night, as Highlander and I were taking a walk around our lovely neighborhood, we came across a thick white mass (similar to this one...only scarier) high up on a tree branch.

The alley was very quiet. Not even the semi-normal chattering we usually encounter. Maybe the humidity had driven everyone indoors. It was pretty bad, after all.

I kept looking at the mass. I found I couldn't NOT keep my eye on it. It wasn't undulating or anything (a'la ARACHNOPHOBIA), but still, I kept getting this eerie feeling that I couldn't quite explain.

Didn't help that heading to work that very morning, I had an...I don't know...episode...with these things in my own yard. The tree in our backyard (that overhangs our driveway) has five or six big webs in it right now. Yesterday morning, when I went to my car to drive to work (oh, how I love the sound of that), I'd found that one of the spiders had been busy all night spinning silk from the tree to the roof of my car. She happened to be perched on her web just above my car door at the time. Did I mention she wasn't small, either?

I eased into the car and then peeled out of the driveway, ripping the web and leaving Ms. Spider dangling on the remnants of her elaborate creation.

It was a considerably freakier way than I'd wanted to start my Monday, I can tell you that with no hesitation. Several times throughout the day, I caught myself thinking about that spider and all those big, dense webs on that tree. Feeling very uneasy about the whole situation. (Let me note that I don't usually have a spider "thing". Snakes, however, are an entirely OTHER matter. Ewwwww!)

Finally, though, given my normally hectic life, I was able to get my mind on other things. I was able to let that weird spidery feeling go. But, it all came back when Highlander and I were walking through that alley last night. The milky white tangled mess was the same basic size and shape as those on the tree in my back yard, not that I was giving it terribly close inspection.

That ooky feeling started coming over me again. My neighborhood's becoming populated with these giant chrysalis-like things and I was getting this dread in the pit of my stomach. I pointed out the web to Highlander, trying to be somewhat casual about it. Kinda hoping he'd dismiss it or explain it or something. He looked at it for a minute. Then, he looked at me and said, "I have this weird feeling that I'm in like the first ten minutes of a horror flick."

Yeah, see, THAT didn't help me feel better nearly as much as you might think.

I guess 'tis the season or something. Gotta tell you, though, I do not like them, Sam I am. Oh yeah, and if I go missing, you may want to check the tree in my backyard first.