Spider Rain

UHGGGG!!

I have never been a fan of spiders.

Spiders are my least favorite part of where I live.

Therefore, image how I feel when late afternoon sun reveals how many live on my lawn! Now stop.

 Go ahead. Click the picture, enlarge so you can look closely.

I don't want anyone to be traumatized.
As for me, well - I don't even want to leave my house.
If there are this many spinning spiders outside, why go out?
And you can only see them when the sun is just so!

However, I now have seen what's out there.

With my own eyes.

And it is NOT in one spot only.

It is everywhere!!

Indeed, I have known fall is when spiders fly: kiting is what I have heard it called. It is also when their webs dangle from every upright. Sometimes when you walk outside you will cross a fine web and feel it brush your face or hand. USUALLY it is just a strand of web here or there. This time my entire yard has a sheen almost like a very light blanket. I've never before seen this with my own eyes. Thanks Papa for the picture.

It is actually called ballooning, and is common enough that the poet Walt Whitman wrote a poem about it. A few web searches (no pun intended) led me to this fascinating video describing the process. It mentions it often occurs with a change in the weather. Yes, our weather changed. We are almost always dry, and we had slight rains.

I tolerate rain decently.

 'Spider rain' is, however, entirely different.