People ask: “Aren’t you afraid of anything?” So here is my true confession for those who wonder. I am deathly afraid of spiders. When I was around 10-12 years old, I left my light on all night and woke up every hour to scan the ceiling for spiders. It was okay if they stayed up in the corners, but if they moved close to me during the night, I freaked. Later, while in school at Univ of AZ, I was studying in a friend’s kitchen. I saw something moving and looked over my shoulder. Their pet tarantula had escaped from its terrarium. I have not recovered from that episode, 40 years later. I still shiver when I remember how close he/she tarantula came to climbing on me.

I am also afraid of driving across high bridges. Too often, they seem to bridge an endless chasm, like the one Gandolf fell into in the Fellowship of the Ring. When crossing a bridge, I grab the steering wheel and stare straight ahead, pretending that I am on a regular road and reassuring myself that I am not Gandolf.

So, imagine my sense of terror yesterday when a tiny, beige spider crossed my dashboard, right in front of me. And yes, I was crossing over a high bridge with a river flowing way down there. My self-dialogue was quick and firm: keep your eyes on the road, forget the spider, forget the bridge. In seconds you will be off the bridge. And, I was, but the spider was gone by then. I started stomping the floor around the pedals. Stomp, stomp, stomp. There. Done. I lived through my worst fears. Bridge crossed, spider a goner.

Wait, is that my imagination or did something just bite my ankle? Is the spider loose? SHIVER. Stomp stomp stomp. That is about all I can do. At the next rest area, I pull over and sweep out the front area of the van. I could tell that people were staring at my frantic sweeping, but I care not. I don’t need anymore itsy, bitsy spider moments.

After a few days of serious driving and a night at Flying J, I settled into a nice RV park for a respite. I took a long shower, rested in the air-conditioned camper, and did laundry. I set my clothes outside on the drying rack overnight. When I awoke, they were wetter than the night before. And,  ants invaded the camper. I first saw them swarming over some tidbit in my shower.

Bottom line: this wet climate will require some adaptations on my part, including a peaceful co-existence with 6 and 8-legged creatures. In Idaho it was the Patriot Act and suspected terrorism.  Down here –little critters everywhere.