Congregations on the rock

Sometimes we are seekers.  Othertimes we just stand still and have our eyes opened to the enormity of what we do not know.

I started out to take a photo of a daddy long-legs on the shady stone beside the trail at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve.  Just one.

Soon it was dancing with its shadow--

Me and my shadow

Strolling down the avenue

That one was headed to the gathering of far more than I could count!  "Adults are frequently seen in huge gatherings, standing with legs interlaced." *

I pray their shoes are velcro.  Not anxious to get in there to tie shoes.

Wouldn't want to be that one roly-poly, either.  A mother pulled her two young children over to see what I was photographing.  "Look, kids," she said, "those are the most poisonous spiders on earth."**
Thankful I was off-duty, I didn't even blurt that daddy long-legs aren't really spiders.

I slowly realized the exposed stone faces on both sides of the trail were hosting congregations of daddy long-legs.  Was this a break-out session at a synod convention?

Why did some groups hang upside down?  Why did others stand sideways?  Through what miracle did they all get the memo to wear striped socks?

What if the plenary session reconvenes?

*National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders.

**This seems to be a prevalent urban legend, although it was new to me.


The seeker will have to wait for the next post.

© 2011 Nancy L. Ruder