I remember, as a little girl, one of my favorite things to do was to find a tree with just the right crooked branch. One that curved just enough for me to lie in. I called it my “reading” branch. I would grab a mystery book, climb into my tree and lay there and read. What fun! You would think that time would pass slowly, but it didn’t. Before long it was time to climb down.
I also remember climbing a tree in my Brownies’ uniform/dress and falling out of it, splat! It knocked the wind out of me, but I didn’t hold a grudge against the tree!
These days I just love to take photos of gorgeous trees.
On Christmas day we were hiking a trail at Lake Louisa State Park. A foot off the trail, suspended at eye level, was this gorgeous Golden Orb spider. You have to admit she is pretty. I wouldn’t want her touching me, but she was nice to admire and capture with my camera.
A few facts about this gorgeous spider: (taken from the web)
Physical features: The female generally exhibits yellow spots on a muted orange/tan abdomen (with banded brown and orange legs), and the male is a fairly plain dark brown. The male is 1/2” (12mm) long and the female is much larger, at 1″ to 3″ (25 mm to 75 mm) long.The abdomen on both the male and female Banana spider is 2 1/2 to 3 times as long as it is wide. The female’s legs have brownish stripes with noticeable tufts of black hair on her 1st and last pair of legs. The male has a less colorful appearance, but he also has tufts of black hair on his legs.
Poisonous: No
Lives in: warm, sunny climates
Eats: Like many spiders, prefers to eat flying insects like bees that are attracted to the golden web it weaves. These spiders also go after larger prey like butterflies and moths.
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