Seasonal Firsts

First cherry tomato! First fruits setting on the eggplant! First fall planting completed! First wooley bear caterpiller (black on both ends orange stripe in the middle) First rite of the fall season….. The Crazy Spider Dance!  Time for this farmer is marked less by the clock more by the seasons and this week the shadows began to lengthen, the morning air had a crisp bite to it and yes I experienced the Crazy Spider Dance, a definite sign fall is just around the corner.  The Crazy Spider Dance is the one you do when you walk the path you always walk but today as you pass by you find yourself engulfed in a tangle of spider webs, you begin jumping wildly, smacking yourself all over, squealing, then when you think all is safe you stop, heart still pounding, look around to see if anyone saw you, gain your composure and carry on.  Here on the north coast of California every fall hundreds of “popcorn” spiders (thats what we call them because they are the size of a large piece of popcorn and lumpy/bumpy looking) desend on our farm.  They are beautiful to watch, their webs and appetite serve a great purpose in safeguarding our home and property from the fall migration of termites, but that first unexpected encounter scares me silly every year.  Don’t worry no spider was harmend in the making of this story, I am sure he saw me coming and safely secured himself to the fence and sat back to watch the show, Crazy Spider Dance.