Grotesque Protectors

Spiders. So many spiders. That’s one of the things I’ve had to get comfortable with around my home here in South Carolina. They stay outside for the most part, but there are always two or three sitting on webs around each doorway.

Part of me wants to go out there with a hose and clean them off once a week, or maybe get some poison, but there’s a problem with that. Spiders are creepy, yes, but they also eat all the flies. And trust me, we have those in large supply. So the choice becomes: do I want to deal with a pile of spiders or a swarm of flying bugs?

Not a fun choice to make.

I could always declare war on the bug world and go all out, but that feels like a battle I’d inevitably lose. So, the spiders stay.

On the bright side, most of the spiders are orb-weavers. That means they’re not particularly harmful to humans (or at least that’s what my ten minutes of research has taught me). They’re big, they’re crawly, they’re haunting—but I’m forced to acknowledge them as my grotesque protectors for now.

After all, there isn’t exactly a better alternative.