I was just sitting at the kitchen table this morning when I noticed a small black bold jumping spider just staring at me like I had no business being there.
Now, first of all, I’m not going to sit here and lie and say that I love spiders, but I do have favorites among them. I really like orb weavers, for example. They’re colorful, elegant, and make amazing webs. The bold jumping spiders are plain, rather abundant, and have never really crossed my mind before.
Nevertheless, I took out my camera and tried to unsuccessfully take a couple of pictures before I realized that I needed a macro-lens desperately. It was then that I turned to my old stand-by, my cell phone and got some pretty decent shots.
Surprisingly, this common Texas spider was a nice little if somewhat uncooperative model. This thing moved quicker than my kids do and I’m not the least bit surprised. If something five-hundred times larger than I was pointing a camera at me, I’d probably run like hell too.
But the spider, upon closer magnification, had some beautiful features I’d never noticed before. Translucent blues and expressive eyes that made it look like a little puppy dog.
In case you are wondering, I did take the spider outside and I did let it go. I’m quite polite to my house-guests.
Jason Gaston 