Arachnids, again?

I should have my head examined. Despite my irrational fear of all things 8-legged, I can't seem to help myself when I see these delicate, inspiring webs. You would not believe how close I made myself get to capture this lethal (yes, I know he's actually harmless and fills an essential role in the ecosystem, etc.) thing. My family certainly couldn't! Interestingly enough, after our little photo shoot together, I think we were almost friends. Acquaintances, perhaps? I noticed when he disappeared from his web later in the day. After the lovely little droplets had all dried in the Autumn sun. And then felt something resembling relief, when he reappeared. See what I mean. I need my head examined!

I'm a little ashamed of myself. My daughter is picking up on my fearfulness and claimed in the midst of her maneuvers to avoid bedtime, that she was having nightmares about spiders. She's three, ladies and gentlemen. She's still wavering. She could develop a profound love for arachnids. Who knows. But not if her mother continues vacillating between shrieking and cooing in delight when she runs into the monster bugs!