aside from some loud (albeit nice) college neighbors, the initial mouse problem (which was completely solved by using these little devices that plug into the wall and emit high frequency noises, kind of like this), and the frequent night time sound of coyotes howling as though they’re going to eat us for dinner, mike and i love our beautiful home, which is perched right on the edge of the wild outdoors. we are constantly in awe of the idyllic canyon, rolling hills, majestic eucalyptus trees, and peeks of the ocean that await us outside our back door:
but every so often, we come across some parts of nature that we wish would stay just a little further away from us. like this BIG, UGLY SPIDER that appeared out of nowhere on thursday night. seriously, we were sitting on the sofa, enjoying a little daily show and surfing the web on our laptops when i decided to put my laptop down and grab a glass of water. when i stood up, i was inches away from this humongous creature. i normally don’t mind spiders, and i’m pretty good at the catch-in-a-glass-and-release-outside technique, but this one scared the bejeezus out of me! i don’t think it looks as big in the picture below as it did in real life, but it was hard to work on a great photo angle when i was freaked out that the thing would walk over and eat off my big toe. i was able to keep my wits about myself enough to throw a peppermint on the ground next to it for size comparison. UGH!! i am not going to be walking around barefoot for quite a while, let me tell ya!!
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April 19th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Impressive! I like that the photojournalist in you overrode your fears, for however short a time. So you’re on the ravine side of Western? Nice shot from your back yard.
Not that I’m trying to top your story, but if I don’t keep on top of the vacuuming, I get spiders dropping on my face at night when I’m in bed.
Between so much nature and so many funky dwellings, we Santa Cruzans get exposed to lots of critters.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
jessi – i had a big photojournalist aspiration in high school that is apparently coming back to me!
i think you totally top my story with the spiders on the face! we haven’t seen a spider in our bedroom yet, thankfully!!
May 5th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
When there is one, there are often more than one–watch out!
May 7th, 2008 at 10:42 am
yikes, that thought is going to keep me up at night!!
May 21st, 2008 at 9:35 am
that is a huge freaking spider! I had an encounter with a large one in Lake Arrowhead, the largest spider I’d ever seen, apart from those seen at zoos. Thankfully it was quite slow and lazy.