There I was finally in the state of Tennessee after leaving California 2 weeks prior. Yes, I had taken my time, but my car had needed much TLC after being driven the 2000+ miles cross country. During my journey I had seen god-parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, my grandmother, and an old high school boyfriend. I had high tailed it through states avoiding road kill and a tornado. But there I was only 3 hours away from my grandmother's home in Tennessee.
It was September 2010 and the weather was still very nice. I was about to arrive at my grandmother's house which was uninhabited at that time. She had been recovering from an injury and had done an extended stay with family members. Earlier that year her 2nd husband had passed, it had been a rough time for the family. When I had inquired about staying at the Tennessee house, everyone seemed pleased with my decision to move closer to my mother who was battling cancer. My move had put me a 4 hours drive away from my mother, who was a 5 hour plane ride previously.
As I pulled up into the driveway I realized that I was going to have a difficult time seeing which keys went where, for it was dark, country dark. Country dark is different from regular dark. You can't see jack! I also heard something I had almost forgotten about, the sound of crickets. But crickets weren't the only thing waiting to greet me in my new country environment. As I settled into the house, I decided to just take the bare minimum in to prepare for bed and a good night's rest. The house had been sealed up since my grandmother had fallen and hurt herself so it was humid and stuffy to say the least. It was the perfect breeding ground for unwelcomed visitors, spiders.
By the time it was 2 or 3am, I was finally ready to take a bath and go to bed. I just want to recap that I was alone for the first time in 25 years. But there I was not only alone, but in country dark in a house by myself. As I went into the bathroom to start my shower water, I saw a long leg reach from the inside of the tub and flop over the edge. I stood there in awe as a second long leg followed, still no body to be seen. My heart raced and I picked up a shoe knowing that I would probably have one shot to kill this huge spider. I held my breath and waited for the arrival of more of the body. It was all in slow motion as I screamed and kept my eyes focused on the ugliest, largest, spider I had ever seen. There was no way, short of fainting, that I could have missed it for it was humongous. I hit it over and over again fearing that it would only be maimed and come back from unconsciousness angered with me.
To Be Continued...
It was September 2010 and the weather was still very nice. I was about to arrive at my grandmother's house which was uninhabited at that time. She had been recovering from an injury and had done an extended stay with family members. Earlier that year her 2nd husband had passed, it had been a rough time for the family. When I had inquired about staying at the Tennessee house, everyone seemed pleased with my decision to move closer to my mother who was battling cancer. My move had put me a 4 hours drive away from my mother, who was a 5 hour plane ride previously.
As I pulled up into the driveway I realized that I was going to have a difficult time seeing which keys went where, for it was dark, country dark. Country dark is different from regular dark. You can't see jack! I also heard something I had almost forgotten about, the sound of crickets. But crickets weren't the only thing waiting to greet me in my new country environment. As I settled into the house, I decided to just take the bare minimum in to prepare for bed and a good night's rest. The house had been sealed up since my grandmother had fallen and hurt herself so it was humid and stuffy to say the least. It was the perfect breeding ground for unwelcomed visitors, spiders.
By the time it was 2 or 3am, I was finally ready to take a bath and go to bed. I just want to recap that I was alone for the first time in 25 years. But there I was not only alone, but in country dark in a house by myself. As I went into the bathroom to start my shower water, I saw a long leg reach from the inside of the tub and flop over the edge. I stood there in awe as a second long leg followed, still no body to be seen. My heart raced and I picked up a shoe knowing that I would probably have one shot to kill this huge spider. I held my breath and waited for the arrival of more of the body. It was all in slow motion as I screamed and kept my eyes focused on the ugliest, largest, spider I had ever seen. There was no way, short of fainting, that I could have missed it for it was humongous. I hit it over and over again fearing that it would only be maimed and come back from unconsciousness angered with me.
Was this a heads up about country living, spiders big enough to cover your whole shoe bottom? Even dead and squashed, the sight of this creature scared the bejeebers out of me. I had never seen anything so big and ugly before in person. Sure on the nature shows I had seen upclose pictures of various spiders, but never anything like this inside a home. I checked the tub carefully hoping not to see any spider relatives. And after a long hot shower, my nerves finally calmed down enough to go to bed. I slept that night with the lights on and one eye open. All I needed was one good night's sleep, because the next day I was on the road again to Virginia to see my mother.
To Be Continued...
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| The Front Yard |
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| The Back Yard |
Thought you might take a picture of the dead spider. :)
ReplyDeleteI was so scared all I could think of was flushing it down the toilet. I had hoped to never see anything like that again. I thought it was truly a mutant spider of some sort.
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