Word Smith: Itsy Bitsy

Word Smith: Itsy Bitsy

And the nursery rhyme goes …

Itsy bitsy spider, climbed up the water spout.

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.

So the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.

The not-so itsy bitsy spiders are still hanging out by our kitchen windows in Portland. They are persistent web builders, not stopping their silk creations even after many water hose jet-spray assaults on their nests. They have made camp, like homeless squatters, creating gossamer tarps outside our kitchen windows. They have been at it for months, getting knocked down the spout and on to the driveway below. And they have climbed back up and rebuilt their prey clasping webs time and time again. The carcasses of dead flies and insects are all over the ledges. These arachnids have offered no signs of surrender.

So it goes, the constant battle for the ownership of the townhouse front windows continues.

Although the spiders are not gargantuan, they are pesky and mighty. I am grateful that they are not the larger varieties, which would frighten away the birds in the neighborhood.