Spider House

It seems like there are even more spiders than usual this summer.  A person can't walk around without having her face and glasses plastered with webs. Maybe they like hot, dry weather.

Come October, we get those huge black creepy ones inside the house, especially in the basement. Where do they come from? So much about nature is a mystery, even right under our noses.  Sure we can "look things up" on the Internet, but people don't sit down with sweet old books like this anymore. What a shame.

We have relief from the smoke today, at least in western Washington. But it will be months until all the fires are out and people are suffering in many areas across the Northwest. Amanda was worried about the kids, because there are few options for indoor play over there. You can't keep two active little girls cooped up all day. In Seattle the sky is murky and dark this morning, but mostly from the marine clouds (and fresh air) that pushed in over night.

Our weather guru Cliff Mass wrote on his blog that yesterday had the worst air quality ever recorded here.  Like lots of other people, I woke up with a headache and cough. It was cooler inside than out, so I kept the windows closed with the fan on, as "the elderly" are advised on the news. I see we have now joined the "sensitive group."  Oh, good grief...

My little tame bunny is still hopping around with the busy young squirrels, but the yard is devoid of birdsong in late August. Other than crows making a racket, of course.  The trio that hatched across the street have apparently made our yard their permanent home. Their parents told them that the lady who lives there sometimes throws stale nuts in the yard. (I don't do that anymore, but the damage is already done.) They don't have much to do with themselves, so they perch on the garage roof pooping and staring balefully at the house for long periods of time. A gloomy sight.

All my favorite small birds (White-crowned sparrows, Chickadees, Bewick's wren) finished raising their families and have gone elsewhere.  Once again, where? 

Still no rain in in the forecast for the foreseeable future.  Unbelievable. Remind me to look back on this when it rains for 40 days and 40 nights this winter.  The weather only comes in extremes these days. Maybe the years of cool, moist Northwest summers are over.