How a mug of green tea saved hundreds of baby spiders.

A true story. . . by me. . .

Late this afternoon I made myself a large mug of green tea and went out on the balcony to enjoy it.

The sun was sinking behind the tree line and it was pleasantly warm for mid-October.

As I took a steaming sip, a small cloud drifted down in front of my face. I glanced down to see dozens, if not hundreds, of baby spiders on my lap.

Now I like spiders for the most part, and appreciate the role they play in nature taking care of even less likable things like mosquitos, but as with many folks, I tend to react reflexively if a spider, or a mess of them, drops in unexpectedly.

I credit my Zen state of sipping green tea from a heavy stone mug for  not swatting, but simply sighing, and wondering how I was to remove the wriggling mass while causing the least amount of injury.

The babes were teeny tiny, each not much larger than a sesame seed.

I slowly got up, took a step to the table, and gently shook them off, one area of my clothing at a time.

Then I bent over and did a full body shake, and after nothing more dropped off, I ran my hands over myself from top to bottom.

I was free, and so were the babes.