Spiders..oh my!

This is a rather odd blog and probably should be in an October blog with brooms and pumpkins. It is about spiders. Now I know spiders are delicate creatures that do a lot of good and I wouldn't purposely hurt one, but I dislike them like some people dislike snakes. The idea of a spider scampering..or what ever they do...across my arm would have me dancing around the room in horror trying to brush it off.

My daughter was bitten by a Brown Recluse spider a couple of years ago. The bite was on her wrist and it took over six weeks of intense antibiotics to recover the use of her hand. Her fingers disappeared in swollen and splitting skin and it was beyond extremely painful. She joked that she had a hole under her watch big enough to stash gum and mints in. Thank goodness for her humor.

So, why am I writing about spiders?
The spider,according to the Native Americans, is grandmother, the link to the past and the future. In many cultures, the spider is associated with language, the alphabet and writing. Perhaps that is why the symbol keeps coming to me...I am writing my first book. The spider reminds me to weave my story well and to stay in balance.

On my desk, as my writing inspiration,is a rhinestone spider. It is a brooch about the size of a man's hand and quite stunning and gasp inspiring when worn on my lapel. It rests on my desk now as a reminder to keep writing, to remember the stories and retell them so my words weave a web around you.