Bread and Circuses

Katie made bread today. All on her own. Without input (beyond "that's fine, now let me watch my video") from me. And it turned out wonderfully. We had one loaf to munch on today, and one to go with "little-bit-of-beef" stew tomorrow. Clever child!

But little did we know, as we tranquilized ourselves on warm bread with melty butter, that this was lurking just outside the door!

Clearly a demon in spider form.

Travis says it is called a "tangle-web" spider, and that they feed primarily on middle aged women. The enormous abdominal sack is full of powerful digestive enzymes, used to soften the stringy flesh of their prey, turning the victim from cranky mom to delicious slushy, like Neil Gaiman's Rattlebag. (I'm lying. Partly. Travis doesn't have anything like that gruesome an imagination. That's me. But he Did identify the spider -- I just extrapolated the rest.) I normally favor a "live and let live" policy with outdoor vermin, but I told Ed he could feel free to send this one to meet its maker. Instead he used the broom and heaved it over the porch rail. So if I don't post ever again you will know what happened.