Spending Time

It was an interesting day. I actually had options of things I could do this Saturday. Now usually I spend my free time in a very consistent manner. I watch a movie, take a nap, or a combination of the two. But I didn't want that today. I wanted to feel useful. Stuffy informed me that he was going to help Mitch build stages for a play production and I decided to join them. I haven't had much use for a power tool as of late, and I'm a little rusty I must confess, but it was good satisfying work. After that we went out and had a little dinner at the local Mexican joint and ended up running into almost everyone we knew from Belmont. The meal was good and the conversation was stimulating. Then we went out hunting with Mitch. He's getting ready for an 80's theme prom tomorrow night, so he needed to get some thrifty material to make his grand getup. Let's just say acid wash denim jacket with a Thundercat's t-shirt. I think that'll pretty much do it.

I learned a few new things about spiders lately also. See, we have a brown recluse problem in our house, and it's starting to pick back up again. So when I get nervous about something, I study it with the expectation that my fears are mostly irrational. That seems to be the case with the brown recluse. Here's what I know about them. They are tiny and brown and have a fiddle shape on their back. They grow to be about the size of a silver dollar (legs included). They are night predators with poor eyesite that don't build webs, but instead, scavange the floor looking for insects (preferrably dead because it's less work for them). They like hiding under things and travel in dim lighting at a very slow pace, sometimes picking up speed in quick spirts. They are mostly shy of human beings and will run when they feel threatened, but if they are pinned down, they will bite. Their bites are mostly painless, but very poisonous, though in most cases, not extremely harmful. Most bite cases have merely caused moderate swelling and itching. Some bites, however, may cause moderate to severe necrocis (legions of dead tissue on the skin) which will eat away at the flesh in a radius around the bite. The worst cases have required plastic surgery to mend, some bites have even caused death. The most seceptible to the venom of a brown recluse bite are infants and the elderly.

I actually have most likely been bitten by one already. It wasn't that bad. It was a swolen spot on my hip that was about the size of a quarter and it itched pretty bad, but it went down after a few hours and didn't bother me anymore. More than likely, it was probably hiding in a pair of pants when I put them on and it tagged me. But knowing more about them helps me rest easier at night which is what I'm about to do now. Peace and love.