Reub's journey

18 May 2015

Welcome

What an amazing day. The glass-topped table outside contained hundreds of interesting new inhabitants that you could watch from above. Clusters of teeeeeeny tiiiiny newly hatched spiders on the underside of the glass.


I reached under and touched them. They spread everywhere, with long strands of gossamer streaming behind.  Itsy-bitsy new lives.


They were so small, no larger than a pinhead. I wondered aloud what something that little could eat, and John said they ate very very small sandwiches. I was unable to give a better answer.



 What will they accomplish in their tiny mysterious lives? I don't know, but it is probably more important than you or I could guess. All baby spiders shall live.




In this whole wide world, who else was born on the 18th of May, 2015? In the year of the mountain sheep, 2015, the day that Mt. St. Helens awoke in in 1980, the day that Bram Stoker's novel Dracula was first read in London (1897), the day that Montreal, Canada, was founded in 1642?



Our third grandson, born at home in a little apartment above a garage in New Jersey. Welcome to this world, little beautiful one. We do not yet know your name, but your presence on this planet may be more important than you or I could guess. May you live a long and happy life.



37 comments:

  1. awww. congratulations! sweet little one!

    i'd imagine baby spiders have a pretty hard life.

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    1. Thank you twg! Probably there are predators out there for little spiders, but these guys were cleverly protected for the time being. Some of them have already dispersed.

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  2. Oh, such sweet beginnings on a spring day.

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  3. What a gorgeous birth announcement. I like the baby better than the spiders but I applaud your applause of all life :)

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  4. Congratulations to all new ones and their parents.

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  5. The spider images are neat. But your new grandbaby stole the show. what a sweetie. Have a happy day!

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  6. Congrats on the new baby. I have a feeling a few of those spiders may eat their siblings. Glad we don't do that.

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  7. Such a cute little guy! Congrats on the birth of your newest grandson!

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    1. Thank you Linda. Looks like we'll be flying to the east coast for a visit pretty soon!

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  8. Your new New Jersey boy is gorgeous and your scurrying spiders are interesting. Congratulations on all your new arrivals! When Barry died a girl was born Ayla, and so your new grandson arrived after your mother left, balancing the family out. And we also celebrated Queen Victoria's birthday yesterday, although it isn't her actual birthday until the 24th. Ville-Marie, the little town that became Montreal was indeed founded on May 17th, 1642. Great post Kerry. Four legs on the spider table and 8 legs on each spider. Lots of leg work there.

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  9. The cycle of life is heavy on my mind these days, Linda. Thank you for this.

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  10. The wonder of new life! Congratulations on your precious new addition. He is beautiful.

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    1. Thanks Gail. He is a very welcome addition. :)

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  11. You're documenting birth. What a lovely new Grandboy! Welcome to him.

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  12. Oh, what a beautiful, beautiful post. May your grandson have a long and prosperous life. Here's to him and his family! :-)

    Greetings from London.

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  13. Beautiful though they are, your spider pictures depict Peggy's worse nightmare (we're talking about piercing screams and wild dances several times a day as she waits for me to come and kill some poor beast.

    Congratulations on your new grandson.

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    1. Haha! These guys were so small I wasn't sure what they were when I touched them. Then they fell apart and streamed away, like magic. It wasn't scary, but maybe because I didn't even know what I was doing at first.

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  14. I have a dear friend who would have to be hospitalized if she say your pictures of the spiders. Precious little baby boy. Does he have a name yet?

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    1. haha, I know these look creepy, but in real life they were smaller than the tiniest ants and they weren't scary! Honest.
      Yes, he does have a name. His name is Lyle. :)

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    2. We not infrequently see just such scenes of spiderlings around our house, and believe me, if someone is phobic of spiders, they would climb the wall to escape. I worry that Peggy will see a spider in the car while she's driving. My sister nearly had a wreck that way, and a teenager was killed here in Eugene when she panicked (it’s known what happened because her mother survived to report the cause of the wreck).

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    3. Phobias are very real. No doubt about that. What a terrible thing to happen to that teen.

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    4. I don't love big spiders.

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    5. I miss the big colorful garden spiders from the South, but then I also miss the copperheads, which I consider to extraordinarily beautiful snakes.

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    6. I think I've had some huge colorful spiders in my tomatoes here in OR. I am always startled by them, but they are probably good to have in the garden and couldn't bite me even if they wanted to.
      Dude. Copperheads? They are gorgeous and terrifying all at once. In Alabama I saw more cottonmouths which are butt ugly AND terrifying. When you go canoeing in the still lakes down there, they chase you in the water, or drop down from overhanging trees. holy crap. I could never once relax in a canoe.

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  15. Such a cute little one, with so much hope for the future!!

    It has cooled off here at the shore....you visited us at our worst!!

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    1. I knowwww. You're down in the 70's now. Dang.

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