Where Are My Teeth?

Charlie's new best friend

One of the advantages of not spending a lot of time outside this summer is that the local fauna have completely lost their fear. The groundhog keeps the weeds in back neatly trimmed, and in the front picture window is this beast.

The technical name is apparently "golden orbweaver", but my cousin calls them "writing spiders". Maybe those zigzags really say, "Some Boy." We've watched as she pounces on large insects and other spiders stupid enough to trespass on her web -- she rolls them around and around as she covers them in silk and hangs them up for future dining. Makes you glad we're not the same size.