USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Jackson]

Well I gotta say a big howdy to one of the bravest men I know. A Dallas Cowboy fan in the bosom of Steeler Country! SFC Ollie! March on, Sergeant.

For what it's worth, I texted the schedule for Movie Night at the Learning Center to the woman in charge of the Facebook presence of the Learning Center. I changed it from Wednesday at 7:00 to Thursday at 6:30. Too many Wednesday night church services. Who am I to compete with God and Bingo?

So, with a wider audience in sight, I'm swinging for the fences.

Thursday September 5, Humphrey Bogart and Lorene Bacall in To Have and Have Not. "You know how to whistle don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."

September 12, what I personally consider the sweetest movie ever made, To Kill a Mockingbird.

September 19, melodrama at its best, Joan Crawford as Mildred Pierce. Don't forget about the great character performance of Eve Arden.

On Thursday the 26, Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly in Fred Zinnemann's High Noon.

That's the first month anyway. I am proud to say that the popcorn machine is up and running, well stocked with corn and boxes from which to eat it. So we'll get the fresh popped aroma going for us.

One woman suggested a margarita machine. Wishful thinking, but I like her style.

Small world... thanks for the Cowboy remarks but truth is I can't remember not being a Cowboys fan. And if you draw a line from Cleveland to Pittsburgh I'm right about halfway on that line. And your movies are spot on. As some know I am in my 3rd year as a member of the Circle of Trustees at the Butler Institute of American Art. My favorite painting happens to be a painted Still from "To Have or Have Not". If you ever get a chance to visit the butler it;s on the 2nd floor of the main Gallery, north wall.

I personally know it gets kinda squirrelly with Browns fans up in East Palestine. I truly feel for Browns fans. I miss the rivalry. But, then again, I'm Pirates fan.

I am showing African Queen the same month I'll show Spenser Tracy and Claudette Colbert with Clark Gable in Boomtown. William Powell and Carol Lombard in My Man Godfrey then Myna Loy and Cary Grant in Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House.

The idea is Powell and Loy were Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man series. And Hepburn and Tracy were the most beloved couple in the movies. Splitting them up let's you savor their performances in new subtle ways.

Love you avatar!

Don't forget "It Happened One night with Cary Grant and Claudette Colbert!

Thanks! That's Daisy the Mutt as Miss October 2012 Doghouse Magazine.

I showed It Happened One Night last season. And it's Clark Gable not Cary Grant. Screwball comedy month was February. We saw Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper in Ball of Fire, Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant in Bringing up Baby, and Carole Lombard and Jack Benny in To Be or Not To Be.

That's right...Clark Gable! Where are you showing these movies?

 

[Ringel05]

I have a question...wonder if someone could help. I decided to teach myself how to play poker. And I started by watching the World Poker Tour on tv. Just for fun, I asked the tv to show me poker games and WPT (World Poker Tour) showed up.
1. I did not have to give my name.
2. I did not have to give credit card infor mation.
3. I did not have to give banking info,

I just played and win some lost some like normal. My family keeps joking about it being real poker and I am about to lose my house.

Not so, right?

Please ease my mind and don't play with me..I'm getting an ulcer over this!

I know nothing about it since I realized many, many years ago I suck at poker. If you start playing and have trouble stopping then you could lose everything but with an online game, I don't know, there may be safeguards built in, there may not...........

 

[Foxfyre]

I have a question...wonder if someone could help. I decided to teach myself how to play poker. And I started by watching the World Poker Tour on tv. Just for fun, I asked the tv to show me poker games and WPT (World Poker Tour) showed up.
1. I did not have to give my name.
2. I did not have to give credit card infor mation.
3. I did not have to give banking info,

I just played and win some lost some like normal. My family keeps joking about it being real poker and I am about to lose my house.

Not so, right?

Please ease my mind and don't play with me..I'm getting an ulcer over this!

Hi Jackson. Good to see you found your way back here. If you are not on any site that has your credit card information, I can't see how you would be in any jeopardy playing for fun poker on line. If you really want to put your mind at ease though, order a gaming program called Hoyle Casino Games. You can install the software on line I think but I ordered the CD to download it directly on all our computers. I have the 2008 version and perfer the older versions of Hoyle games. Under $10 at Amazon. I have Windows 10 but this program worked on Windows 7 and 8 and I'm pretty sure they have a Mac version.

 

[Nosmo King]

Well I gotta say a big howdy to one of the bravest men I know. A Dallas Cowboy fan in the bosom of Steeler Country! SFC Ollie! March on, Sergeant.

For what it's worth, I texted the schedule for Movie Night at the Learning Center to the woman in charge of the Facebook presence of the Learning Center. I changed it from Wednesday at 7:00 to Thursday at 6:30. Too many Wednesday night church services. Who am I to compete with God and Bingo?

So, with a wider audience in sight, I'm swinging for the fences.

Thursday September 5, Humphrey Bogart and Lorene Bacall in To Have and Have Not. "You know how to whistle don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."

September 12, what I personally consider the sweetest movie ever made, To Kill a Mockingbird.

September 19, melodrama at its best, Joan Crawford as Mildred Pierce. Don't forget about the great character performance of Eve Arden.

On Thursday the 26, Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly in Fred Zinnemann's High Noon.

That's the first month anyway. I am proud to say that the popcorn machine is up and running, well stocked with corn and boxes from which to eat it. So we'll get the fresh popped aroma going for us.

One woman suggested a margarita machine. Wishful thinking, but I like her style.

Small world... thanks for the Cowboy remarks but truth is I can't remember not being a Cowboys fan. And if you draw a line from Cleveland to Pittsburgh I'm right about halfway on that line. And your movies are spot on. As some know I am in my 3rd year as a member of the Circle of Trustees at the Butler Institute of American Art. My favorite painting happens to be a painted Still from "To Have or Have Not". If you ever get a chance to visit the butler it;s on the 2nd floor of the main Gallery, north wall.

I personally know it gets kinda squirrelly with Browns fans up in East Palestine. I truly feel for Browns fans. I miss the rivalry. But, then again, I'm Pirates fan.

I am showing African Queen the same month I'll show Spenser Tracy and Claudette Colbert with Clark Gable in Boomtown. William Powell and Carol Lombard in My Man Godfrey then Myna Loy and Cary Grant in Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House.

The idea is Powell and Loy were Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man series. And Hepburn and Tracy were the most beloved couple in the movies. Splitting them up let's you savor their performances in new subtle ways.

Love you avatar!

Don't forget "It Happened One night with Cary Grant and Claudette Colbert!

Thanks! That's Daisy the Mutt as Miss October 2012 Doghouse Magazine.

I showed It Happened One Night last season. And it's Clark Gable not Cary Grant. Screwball comedy month was February. We saw Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper in Ball of Fire, Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant in Bringing up Baby, and Carole Lombard and Jack Benny in To Be or Not To Be.

That's right...Clark Gable! Where are you showing these movies?

Back in 1963 the Trinity Prsbuterian Church here in East aliverpool, Ohio decided to build a massive church complex. Amsanctuarty, nurseries, chapels and basement kitchen facilities to comfortably serve the generation of Baby Boomers in the congregation. I was one of those baby boomers.

Well, things went great for the next forty years until the steel economy started to take its toll. Mills shut down, families left town. By 2015 it was clear that the church elders had overbuilt. The building was too large, too expensive to maintain. The congregation sold the building to a group of community leaders who turned the old church into the East Liverpool Community and Learning Center.

My little theater is in a former chapel. There is a 10'x5' screen coming down from the c idling, a LED projector connected to a DVD player and a surround sound system pumping out the sound. There is a theater style popcorn machine that makes thenplace smell of a movie theater. Free admission and snacks! What a deal!

 

[Foxfyre]

Small world... thanks for the Cowboy remarks but truth is I can't remember not being a Cowboys fan. And if you draw a line from Cleveland to Pittsburgh I'm right about halfway on that line. And your movies are spot on. As some know I am in my 3rd year as a member of the Circle of Trustees at the Butler Institute of American Art. My favorite painting happens to be a painted Still from "To Have or Have Not". If you ever get a chance to visit the butler it;s on the 2nd floor of the main Gallery, north wall.

I personally know it gets kinda squirrelly with Browns fans up in East Palestine. I truly feel for Browns fans. I miss the rivalry. But, then again, I'm Pirates fan.

I am showing African Queen the same month I'll show Spenser Tracy and Claudette Colbert with Clark Gable in Boomtown. William Powell and Carol Lombard in My Man Godfrey then Myna Loy and Cary Grant in Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House.

The idea is Powell and Loy were Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man series. And Hepburn and Tracy were the most beloved couple in the movies. Splitting them up let's you savor their performances in new subtle ways.

Love you avatar!

Don't forget "It Happened One night with Cary Grant and Claudette Colbert!

Thanks! That's Daisy the Mutt as Miss October 2012 Doghouse Magazine.

I showed It Happened One Night last season. And it's Clark Gable not Cary Grant. Screwball comedy month was February. We saw Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper in Ball of Fire, Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant in Bringing up Baby, and Carole Lombard and Jack Benny in To Be or Not To Be.

That's right...Clark Gable! Where are you showing these movies?

Back in 1963 the Trinity Prsbuterian Church here in East aliverpool, Ohio decided to build a massive church complex. Amsanctuarty, nurseries, chapels and basement kitchen facilities to comfortably serve the generation of Baby Boomers in the congregation. I was one of those baby boomers.

Well, things went great for the next forty years until the steel economy started to take its toll. Mills shut down, families left town. By 2015 it was clear that the church elders had overbuilt. The building was too large, too expensive to maintain. The congregation sold the building to a group of community leaders who turned the old church into the East Liverpool Community and Learning Center.

My little theater is in a former chapel. There is a 10'x5' screen coming down from the c idling, a LED projector connected to a DVD player and a surround sound system pumping out the sound. There is a theater style popcorn machine that makes thenplace smell of a movie theater. Free admission and snacks! What a deal!

I would love having something like that near by.

 

[Nosmo King]

I personally know it gets kinda squirrelly with Browns fans up in East Palestine. I truly feel for Browns fans. I miss the rivalry. But, then again, I'm Pirates fan.

I am showing African Queen the same month I'll show Spenser Tracy and Claudette Colbert with Clark Gable in Boomtown. William Powell and Carol Lombard in My Man Godfrey then Myna Loy and Cary Grant in Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House.

The idea is Powell and Loy were Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man series. And Hepburn and Tracy were the most beloved couple in the movies. Splitting them up let's you savor their performances in new subtle ways.

Love you avatar!

Don't forget "It Happened One night with Cary Grant and Claudette Colbert!

Thanks! That's Daisy the Mutt as Miss October 2012 Doghouse Magazine.

I showed It Happened One Night last season. And it's Clark Gable not Cary Grant. Screwball comedy month was February. We saw Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper in Ball of Fire, Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant in Bringing up Baby, and Carole Lombard and Jack Benny in To Be or Not To Be.

That's right...Clark Gable! Where are you showing these movies?

Back in 1963 the Trinity Prsbuterian Church here in East aliverpool, Ohio decided to build a massive church complex. Amsanctuarty, nurseries, chapels and basement kitchen facilities to comfortably serve the generation of Baby Boomers in the congregation. I was one of those baby boomers.

Well, things went great for the next forty years until the steel economy started to take its toll. Mills shut down, families left town. By 2015 it was clear that the church elders had overbuilt. The building was too large, too expensive to maintain. The congregation sold the building to a group of community leaders who turned the old church into the East Liverpool Community and Learning Center.

My little theater is in a former chapel. There is a 10'x5' screen coming down from the c idling, a LED projector connected to a DVD player and a surround sound system pumping out the sound. There is a theater style popcorn machine that makes thenplace smell of a movie theater. Free admission and snacks! What a deal!

I would love having something like that near by.

I don't doubt that there are community centers, YMCA/YWCA, Salvarion Army halls around equipped to project DVD movies. What you need is the collection or collections to draw from.

In my case it was a jaw-droppingly obvious thing to do. I have been collecting classic films for twenty years. I replaced every copy of every movie I owned on VHS with DVDs. And I had three hundred VHS movies. All 100 of the AFI (American Film Institute) Top 100 Movies of All Time

And since I've accumulated 700 movies.

When I wash dishes in the Luxurious Pimplebutt Estate, the view from the kitchen window is the old Trinity Church. Since that was the church I was brought up in, I have a hard time referring to the building as 'The Learning Center'. I still say I'm going up to the church.

 

[SFC Ollie]

6 months back I had to place pillows under my mattress because it was sort of drooping on the edges. So I went out today in search of a basic (never did like the pillow top the Mrs made me buy last time) mattress and box spring.... 3 places told me they don't make those anymore... Finally found a place that not only had them but didn't treat me like a nut case. Salesman was another Army Vet from my time period. He and I were the only people in the store most of the time I was there.... Needless to say I basically got exactly what I wanted for one tenth what most stores wanted to sell me and half price what the regular pricing was... Except for delivery charges and taxes....Of course... And Delivery day after tomorrow... Gotta love it when a plan comes together.

Does he work in North Lima?

Boardman just west of 680 on 224

 

[Nosmo King]

6 months back I had to place pillows under my mattress because it was sort of drooping on the edges. So I went out today in search of a basic (never did like the pillow top the Mrs made me buy last time) mattress and box spring.... 3 places told me they don't make those anymore... Finally found a place that not only had them but didn't treat me like a nut case. Salesman was another Army Vet from my time period. He and I were the only people in the store most of the time I was there.... Needless to say I basically got exactly what I wanted for one tenth what most stores wanted to sell me and half price what the regular pricing was... Except for delivery charges and taxes....Of course... And Delivery day after tomorrow... Gotta love it when a plan comes together.

Does he work in North Lima?

Boardman just west of 680 on 224

I got cha.

 

[Foxfyre]

Love you avatar!

Don't forget "It Happened One night with Cary Grant and Claudette Colbert!

Thanks! That's Daisy the Mutt as Miss October 2012 Doghouse Magazine.

I showed It Happened One Night last season. And it's Clark Gable not Cary Grant. Screwball comedy month was February. We saw Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper in Ball of Fire, Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant in Bringing up Baby, and Carole Lombard and Jack Benny in To Be or Not To Be.

That's right...Clark Gable! Where are you showing these movies?

Back in 1963 the Trinity Prsbuterian Church here in East aliverpool, Ohio decided to build a massive church complex. Amsanctuarty, nurseries, chapels and basement kitchen facilities to comfortably serve the generation of Baby Boomers in the congregation. I was one of those baby boomers.

Well, things went great for the next forty years until the steel economy started to take its toll. Mills shut down, families left town. By 2015 it was clear that the church elders had overbuilt. The building was too large, too expensive to maintain. The congregation sold the building to a group of community leaders who turned the old church into the East Liverpool Community and Learning Center.

My little theater is in a former chapel. There is a 10'x5' screen coming down from the c idling, a LED projector connected to a DVD player and a surround sound system pumping out the sound. There is a theater style popcorn machine that makes thenplace smell of a movie theater. Free admission and snacks! What a deal!

I would love having something like that near by.

I don't doubt that there are community centers, YMCA/YWCA, Salvarion Army halls around equipped to project DVD movies. What you need is the collection or collections to draw from.

In my case it was a jaw-droppingly obvious thing to do. I have been collecting classic films for twenty years. I replaced every copy of every movie I owned on VHS with DVDs. And I had three hundred VHS movies. All 100 of the AFI (American Film Institute) Top 100 Movies of All Time

And since I've accumulated 700 movies.

When I wash dishes in the Luxurious Pimplebutt Estate, the view from the kitchen window is the old Trinity Church. Since that was the church I was brought up in, I have a hard time referring to the building as 'The Learning Center'. I still say I'm going up to the church.

Lots of churches around here have movie nights, but Albuquerque is too much big city, however much small town feel there is to it, to have a community event like a movie night. Educational classes and such go over well at the multigenerational center not that far from us, but it is a place to go do things, learn things, and not so much a place just to get together and enjoy something. So the one real extravagance that Hombre and I indulge ourselves with is our 62" smart TV and our fairly extensive movie collection--not as extensive as yours and other movie collectors here. But in small towns, yes. I envy you that.

 

[beautress]

A terrifying spider episode (sorry so long in the telling) ​

Spent the morning on the zero turn and the afternoon on the tractor. And when I went to the remote back area that is a triangular wedge next to one of the creeks that flank the place on each side--anyway, I got stuck in the wedge. A huge ropelike vine-tree must've fallen or whatever vine trees do, I'm not certain, anyway, it got snaggled in the upper part of the canopy, which twisted the tractor into going down position, so in panic, I turned the key to off, and it stopped. When it stopped, something was sticking me in the back. Several dead trees were nearby, and the little maneuver I unwittingly did jerked a huge leafless limb with stiff points where small branches used to be. I spent 10 minutes trying to free myself from this awful situation, and being pitch dark in bright daylight is why I think the creek bed flanks a quasi-jungle with plants horrific. Of course, the meadow end of the wedge has amazing small wildflowers from February to October, because the shade keeps things cooler there than out in the 100-degree Farenheit open pastures on a hot afternoon. Anyhow, I got unwoven in about 10 minutes, then had to figure how to get the tractor that was now stuck between two quite firm trees that weren't there 2 years ago, or were so small I didn't notice them. I have no idea how the 3" diameter vine tree got there, because it wasn't there, either the last time I visited the wedge. One problem I encountered was that the neighbor had routed his part of the floodplain into two runnoff areas that broached the wedge area on the north fenceline, and some of the land next to the creek bottom had sunk, which is why the tractor slipped. And it was 6 feet lower in the two areas than it was in the meadowed area. The pine tree that had been 4 ft. high was now at least 30, and it was looking sickly with reddish patches like the other pines I lost during the drought of 2011. I just couldn't get out of there fast enough when suddenly!!! a 3" dark spider with horizontal uneven stripes parachuted down directly in front of me when I was trying to get uphill and out of the spring sink area, so in addition to a little panic from travelling uphill on a forty-five degree angle, here's the biggest, fattest spider I ever saw in my life giving me dirty looks and descending fast. I grabbed the thick piece of silk he or she had descended on, which made the spider real mad at me in particular, so I grabbed it once again and tossed the line to the side, and the spider followed. Whew! close call. You never know what kind of monster spider will go after you, and I will consider walking without destroying the spider's tree habitat from now on. Those little wildflowers in the wild woods are a magnet to me, and no less precious today than their predecessors in my memory. They were just ... magic. And beautiful.

So I got every part of the yard mowed that needed mowing, then all afternoon spent time on the Kubota with its 60" hay cutter, mowing around the fence lines, and through places where one might like to walk if so inclined. There were some really pretty lily-like flowers on branches rather than spikes like real lilies. They were all purple and so lovely going around the outside of the lake. It's only 14 acres but has 8 different worlds on it.

I never saw a spider that big that wasn't a tarantula. And I have no idea what it was, searched all over the internet for an hour, without finding it. Judging from its appearance and its fierce attitude, I'm guessing it a relative of wolf spiders, but I sure would like to have verified its name to see if its huge size was just an anomaly of having a growth hormone other spiders do not have, and its weird appearance which I have been unable to identify at any arachnid site. They'll tell you there are 1000 known type spiders in the wolf spider family, but I haven't found a website yet that identifies spiders with common and latin scientific names, and tells of their dangers of poison problems if they bite you. That spider scared me, but I tried to keep my head and spoke gently to the beast before sending him over the side onto safe ground, hopefully.

 

[gallantwarrior]

A terrifying spider episode (sorry so long in the telling) ​

Spent the morning on the zero turn and the afternoon on the tractor. And when I went to the remote back area that is a triangular wedge next to one of the creeks that flank the place on each side--anyway, I got stuck in the wedge. A huge ropelike vine-tree must've fallen or whatever vine trees do, I'm not certain, anyway, it got snaggled in the upper part of the canopy, which twisted the tractor into going down position, so in panic, I turned the key to off, and it stopped. When it stopped, something was sticking me in the back. Several dead trees were nearby, and the little maneuver I unwittingly did jerked a huge leafless limb with stiff points where small branches used to be. I spent 10 minutes trying to free myself from this awful situation, and being pitch dark in bright daylight is why I think the creek bed flanks a quasi-jungle with plants horrific. Of course, the meadow end of the wedge has amazing small wildflowers from February to October, because the shade keeps things cooler there than out in the 100-degree Farenheit open pastures on a hot afternoon. Anyhow, I got unwoven in about 10 minutes, then had to figure how to get the tractor that was now stuck between two quite firm trees that weren't there 2 years ago, or were so small I didn't notice them. I have no idea how the 3" diameter vine tree got there, because it wasn't there, either the last time I visited the wedge. One problem I encountered was that the neighbor had routed his part of the floodplain into two runnoff areas that broached the wedge area on the north fenceline, and some of the land next to the creek bottom had sunk, which is why the tractor slipped. And it was 6 feet lower in the two areas than it was in the meadowed area. The pine tree that had been 4 ft. high was now at least 30, and it was looking sickly with reddish patches like the other pines I lost during the drought of 2011. I just couldn't get out of there fast enough when suddenly!!! a 3" dark spider with horizontal uneven stripes parachuted down directly in front of me when I was trying to get uphill and out of the spring sink area, so in addition to a little panic from travelling uphill on a forty-five degree angle, here's the biggest, fattest spider I ever saw in my life giving me dirty looks and descending fast. I grabbed the thick piece of silk he or she had descended on, which made the spider real mad at me in particular, so I grabbed it once again and tossed the line to the side, and the spider followed. Whew! close call. You never know what kind of monster spider will go after you, and I will consider walking without destroying the spider's tree habitat from now on. Those little wildflowers in the wild woods are a magnet to me, and no less precious today than their predecessors in my memory. They were just ... magic. And beautiful.

So I got every part of the yard mowed that needed mowing, then all afternoon spent time on the Kubota with its 60" hay cutter, mowing around the fence lines, and through places where one might like to walk if so inclined. There were some really pretty lily-like flowers on branches rather than spikes like real lilies. They were all purple and so lovely going around the outside of the lake. It's only 14 acres but has 8 different worlds on it.

I never saw a spider that big that wasn't a tarantula. And I have no idea what it was, searched all over the internet for an hour, without finding it. Judging from its appearance and its fierce attitude, I'm guessing it a relative of wolf spiders, but I sure would like to have verified its name to see if its huge size was just an anomaly of having a growth hormone other spiders do not have, and its weird appearance which I have been unable to identify at any arachnid site. They'll tell you there are 1000 known type spiders in the wolf spider family, but I haven't found a website yet that identifies spiders with common and latin scientific names, and tells of their dangers of poison problems if they bite you. That spider scared me, but I tried to keep my head and spoke gently to the beast before sending him over the side onto safe ground, hopefully.

Eeeewww!! Another good reason to live in Alaska. The largest spiders I've seen here are a decent size of less than 1/2", mostly. Well daddy longlegs are bigger because of their legs but they are too small to do any damage to people...other than creeping you out if they walk across your face while you're sleeping... Yup, you can keep your ginourmous spiders.
Another glorious day dawns here. We've been losing around 6 minutes of daylight daily so we have actual night time now. And so the seasons roll inexorably on in the way are wont to. We've been warned it might rain, but it's not looking too promising right now.

 

[Foxfyre]

A terrifying spider episode (sorry so long in the telling) ​

Spent the morning on the zero turn and the afternoon on the tractor. And when I went to the remote back area that is a triangular wedge next to one of the creeks that flank the place on each side--anyway, I got stuck in the wedge. A huge ropelike vine-tree must've fallen or whatever vine trees do, I'm not certain, anyway, it got snaggled in the upper part of the canopy, which twisted the tractor into going down position, so in panic, I turned the key to off, and it stopped. When it stopped, something was sticking me in the back. Several dead trees were nearby, and the little maneuver I unwittingly did jerked a huge leafless limb with stiff points where small branches used to be. I spent 10 minutes trying to free myself from this awful situation, and being pitch dark in bright daylight is why I think the creek bed flanks a quasi-jungle with plants horrific. Of course, the meadow end of the wedge has amazing small wildflowers from February to October, because the shade keeps things cooler there than out in the 100-degree Farenheit open pastures on a hot afternoon. Anyhow, I got unwoven in about 10 minutes, then had to figure how to get the tractor that was now stuck between two quite firm trees that weren't there 2 years ago, or were so small I didn't notice them. I have no idea how the 3" diameter vine tree got there, because it wasn't there, either the last time I visited the wedge. One problem I encountered was that the neighbor had routed his part of the floodplain into two runnoff areas that broached the wedge area on the north fenceline, and some of the land next to the creek bottom had sunk, which is why the tractor slipped. And it was 6 feet lower in the two areas than it was in the meadowed area. The pine tree that had been 4 ft. high was now at least 30, and it was looking sickly with reddish patches like the other pines I lost during the drought of 2011. I just couldn't get out of there fast enough when suddenly!!! a 3" dark spider with horizontal uneven stripes parachuted down directly in front of me when I was trying to get uphill and out of the spring sink area, so in addition to a little panic from travelling uphill on a forty-five degree angle, here's the biggest, fattest spider I ever saw in my life giving me dirty looks and descending fast. I grabbed the thick piece of silk he or she had descended on, which made the spider real mad at me in particular, so I grabbed it once again and tossed the line to the side, and the spider followed. Whew! close call. You never know what kind of monster spider will go after you, and I will consider walking without destroying the spider's tree habitat from now on. Those little wildflowers in the wild woods are a magnet to me, and no less precious today than their predecessors in my memory. They were just ... magic. And beautiful.

So I got every part of the yard mowed that needed mowing, then all afternoon spent time on the Kubota with its 60" hay cutter, mowing around the fence lines, and through places where one might like to walk if so inclined. There were some really pretty lily-like flowers on branches rather than spikes like real lilies. They were all purple and so lovely going around the outside of the lake. It's only 14 acres but has 8 different worlds on it.

I never saw a spider that big that wasn't a tarantula. And I have no idea what it was, searched all over the internet for an hour, without finding it. Judging from its appearance and its fierce attitude, I'm guessing it a relative of wolf spiders, but I sure would like to have verified its name to see if its huge size was just an anomaly of having a growth hormone other spiders do not have, and its weird appearance which I have been unable to identify at any arachnid site. They'll tell you there are 1000 known type spiders in the wolf spider family, but I haven't found a website yet that identifies spiders with common and latin scientific names, and tells of their dangers of poison problems if they bite you. That spider scared me, but I tried to keep my head and spoke gently to the beast before sending him over the side onto safe ground, hopefully.

I believe the only spiders seriously dangerous to humans at least in the continguous 48 states are the brown recluse and the black widow, both small spiders. All others have mouths too small to harm humans--the grand daddy longlegs for instance are deadly poisonous but cannot harm humans, even babies, because their mouth is too small to penetrate human skin. They are deadly to other spiders especially and small insects though. if you have a lot of grand daddy longlegs, you won't need to worry about any other spiders being around. The tarantula looks vicious but they have to be really provoked or frightened to bite and their bite, while not harmless, is not deadly and easily treated with soap and water and a cold compress to take down any swelling. It rarely needs any kind of professional medical attention.

Evenso, I would not have wanted your spider coming at me either. Maybe he wouldn't hurt me but he likely could cause me to hurt myself. Did you get your tractor unstuck?

 

[Foxfyre]

A terrifying spider episode (sorry so long in the telling) ​

Spent the morning on the zero turn and the afternoon on the tractor. And when I went to the remote back area that is a triangular wedge next to one of the creeks that flank the place on each side--anyway, I got stuck in the wedge. A huge ropelike vine-tree must've fallen or whatever vine trees do, I'm not certain, anyway, it got snaggled in the upper part of the canopy, which twisted the tractor into going down position, so in panic, I turned the key to off, and it stopped. When it stopped, something was sticking me in the back. Several dead trees were nearby, and the little maneuver I unwittingly did jerked a huge leafless limb with stiff points where small branches used to be. I spent 10 minutes trying to free myself from this awful situation, and being pitch dark in bright daylight is why I think the creek bed flanks a quasi-jungle with plants horrific. Of course, the meadow end of the wedge has amazing small wildflowers from February to October, because the shade keeps things cooler there than out in the 100-degree Farenheit open pastures on a hot afternoon. Anyhow, I got unwoven in about 10 minutes, then had to figure how to get the tractor that was now stuck between two quite firm trees that weren't there 2 years ago, or were so small I didn't notice them. I have no idea how the 3" diameter vine tree got there, because it wasn't there, either the last time I visited the wedge. One problem I encountered was that the neighbor had routed his part of the floodplain into two runnoff areas that broached the wedge area on the north fenceline, and some of the land next to the creek bottom had sunk, which is why the tractor slipped. And it was 6 feet lower in the two areas than it was in the meadowed area. The pine tree that had been 4 ft. high was now at least 30, and it was looking sickly with reddish patches like the other pines I lost during the drought of 2011. I just couldn't get out of there fast enough when suddenly!!! a 3" dark spider with horizontal uneven stripes parachuted down directly in front of me when I was trying to get uphill and out of the spring sink area, so in addition to a little panic from travelling uphill on a forty-five degree angle, here's the biggest, fattest spider I ever saw in my life giving me dirty looks and descending fast. I grabbed the thick piece of silk he or she had descended on, which made the spider real mad at me in particular, so I grabbed it once again and tossed the line to the side, and the spider followed. Whew! close call. You never know what kind of monster spider will go after you, and I will consider walking without destroying the spider's tree habitat from now on. Those little wildflowers in the wild woods are a magnet to me, and no less precious today than their predecessors in my memory. They were just ... magic. And beautiful.

So I got every part of the yard mowed that needed mowing, then all afternoon spent time on the Kubota with its 60" hay cutter, mowing around the fence lines, and through places where one might like to walk if so inclined. There were some really pretty lily-like flowers on branches rather than spikes like real lilies. They were all purple and so lovely going around the outside of the lake. It's only 14 acres but has 8 different worlds on it.

I never saw a spider that big that wasn't a tarantula. And I have no idea what it was, searched all over the internet for an hour, without finding it. Judging from its appearance and its fierce attitude, I'm guessing it a relative of wolf spiders, but I sure would like to have verified its name to see if its huge size was just an anomaly of having a growth hormone other spiders do not have, and its weird appearance which I have been unable to identify at any arachnid site. They'll tell you there are 1000 known type spiders in the wolf spider family, but I haven't found a website yet that identifies spiders with common and latin scientific names, and tells of their dangers of poison problems if they bite you. That spider scared me, but I tried to keep my head and spoke gently to the beast before sending him over the side onto safe ground, hopefully.

Eeeewww!! Another good reason to live in Alaska. The largest spiders I've seen here are a decent size of less than 1/2", mostly. Well daddy longlegs are bigger because of their legs but they are too small to do any damage to people...other than creeping you out if they walk across your face while you're sleeping... Yup, you can keep your ginourmous spiders.
Another glorious day dawns here. We've been losing around 6 minutes of daylight daily so we have actual night time now. And so the seasons roll inexorably on in the way are wont to. We've been warned it might rain, but it's not looking too promising right now.

We also get encouraging weather reports that it could rain, but for several days now nothing despite us being in the heart of monsoon season. The fear is that it is going to be mostly a bust for New Mexico this year. Looked like eastern Arizona, including Peach's part of the world got some rain yesterday though.

 

[gallantwarrior]

A terrifying spider episode (sorry so long in the telling) ​

Spent the morning on the zero turn and the afternoon on the tractor. And when I went to the remote back area that is a triangular wedge next to one of the creeks that flank the place on each side--anyway, I got stuck in the wedge. A huge ropelike vine-tree must've fallen or whatever vine trees do, I'm not certain, anyway, it got snaggled in the upper part of the canopy, which twisted the tractor into going down position, so in panic, I turned the key to off, and it stopped. When it stopped, something was sticking me in the back. Several dead trees were nearby, and the little maneuver I unwittingly did jerked a huge leafless limb with stiff points where small branches used to be. I spent 10 minutes trying to free myself from this awful situation, and being pitch dark in bright daylight is why I think the creek bed flanks a quasi-jungle with plants horrific. Of course, the meadow end of the wedge has amazing small wildflowers from February to October, because the shade keeps things cooler there than out in the 100-degree Farenheit open pastures on a hot afternoon. Anyhow, I got unwoven in about 10 minutes, then had to figure how to get the tractor that was now stuck between two quite firm trees that weren't there 2 years ago, or were so small I didn't notice them. I have no idea how the 3" diameter vine tree got there, because it wasn't there, either the last time I visited the wedge. One problem I encountered was that the neighbor had routed his part of the floodplain into two runnoff areas that broached the wedge area on the north fenceline, and some of the land next to the creek bottom had sunk, which is why the tractor slipped. And it was 6 feet lower in the two areas than it was in the meadowed area. The pine tree that had been 4 ft. high was now at least 30, and it was looking sickly with reddish patches like the other pines I lost during the drought of 2011. I just couldn't get out of there fast enough when suddenly!!! a 3" dark spider with horizontal uneven stripes parachuted down directly in front of me when I was trying to get uphill and out of the spring sink area, so in addition to a little panic from travelling uphill on a forty-five degree angle, here's the biggest, fattest spider I ever saw in my life giving me dirty looks and descending fast. I grabbed the thick piece of silk he or she had descended on, which made the spider real mad at me in particular, so I grabbed it once again and tossed the line to the side, and the spider followed. Whew! close call. You never know what kind of monster spider will go after you, and I will consider walking without destroying the spider's tree habitat from now on. Those little wildflowers in the wild woods are a magnet to me, and no less precious today than their predecessors in my memory. They were just ... magic. And beautiful.

So I got every part of the yard mowed that needed mowing, then all afternoon spent time on the Kubota with its 60" hay cutter, mowing around the fence lines, and through places where one might like to walk if so inclined. There were some really pretty lily-like flowers on branches rather than spikes like real lilies. They were all purple and so lovely going around the outside of the lake. It's only 14 acres but has 8 different worlds on it.

I never saw a spider that big that wasn't a tarantula. And I have no idea what it was, searched all over the internet for an hour, without finding it. Judging from its appearance and its fierce attitude, I'm guessing it a relative of wolf spiders, but I sure would like to have verified its name to see if its huge size was just an anomaly of having a growth hormone other spiders do not have, and its weird appearance which I have been unable to identify at any arachnid site. They'll tell you there are 1000 known type spiders in the wolf spider family, but I haven't found a website yet that identifies spiders with common and latin scientific names, and tells of their dangers of poison problems if they bite you. That spider scared me, but I tried to keep my head and spoke gently to the beast before sending him over the side onto safe ground, hopefully.

I believe the only spiders seriously dangerous to humans at least in the continguous 48 states are the brown recluse and the black widow, both small spiders. All others have mouths too small to harm humans--the grand daddy longlegs for instance are deadly poisonous but cannot harm humans, even babies, because their mouth is too small to penetrate human skin. They are deadly to other spiders especially and small insects though. if you have a lot of grand daddy longlegs, you won't need to worry about any other spiders being around. The tarantula looks vicious but they have to be really provoked or frightened to bite and their bite, while not harmless, is not deadly and easily treated with soap and water and a cold compress to take down any swelling. It rarely needs any kind of professional medical attention.

Evenso, I would not have wanted your spider coming at me either. Maybe he wouldn't hurt me but he likely could cause me to hurt myself. Did you get your tractor unstuck?

How about scorpions? I've read that some of those can be deadly to humans. Don't you guys have scorpions there?

 

[gallantwarrior]

A terrifying spider episode (sorry so long in the telling) ​

Spent the morning on the zero turn and the afternoon on the tractor. And when I went to the remote back area that is a triangular wedge next to one of the creeks that flank the place on each side--anyway, I got stuck in the wedge. A huge ropelike vine-tree must've fallen or whatever vine trees do, I'm not certain, anyway, it got snaggled in the upper part of the canopy, which twisted the tractor into going down position, so in panic, I turned the key to off, and it stopped. When it stopped, something was sticking me in the back. Several dead trees were nearby, and the little maneuver I unwittingly did jerked a huge leafless limb with stiff points where small branches used to be. I spent 10 minutes trying to free myself from this awful situation, and being pitch dark in bright daylight is why I think the creek bed flanks a quasi-jungle with plants horrific. Of course, the meadow end of the wedge has amazing small wildflowers from February to October, because the shade keeps things cooler there than out in the 100-degree Farenheit open pastures on a hot afternoon. Anyhow, I got unwoven in about 10 minutes, then had to figure how to get the tractor that was now stuck between two quite firm trees that weren't there 2 years ago, or were so small I didn't notice them. I have no idea how the 3" diameter vine tree got there, because it wasn't there, either the last time I visited the wedge. One problem I encountered was that the neighbor had routed his part of the floodplain into two runnoff areas that broached the wedge area on the north fenceline, and some of the land next to the creek bottom had sunk, which is why the tractor slipped. And it was 6 feet lower in the two areas than it was in the meadowed area. The pine tree that had been 4 ft. high was now at least 30, and it was looking sickly with reddish patches like the other pines I lost during the drought of 2011. I just couldn't get out of there fast enough when suddenly!!! a 3" dark spider with horizontal uneven stripes parachuted down directly in front of me when I was trying to get uphill and out of the spring sink area, so in addition to a little panic from travelling uphill on a forty-five degree angle, here's the biggest, fattest spider I ever saw in my life giving me dirty looks and descending fast. I grabbed the thick piece of silk he or she had descended on, which made the spider real mad at me in particular, so I grabbed it once again and tossed the line to the side, and the spider followed. Whew! close call. You never know what kind of monster spider will go after you, and I will consider walking without destroying the spider's tree habitat from now on. Those little wildflowers in the wild woods are a magnet to me, and no less precious today than their predecessors in my memory. They were just ... magic. And beautiful.

So I got every part of the yard mowed that needed mowing, then all afternoon spent time on the Kubota with its 60" hay cutter, mowing around the fence lines, and through places where one might like to walk if so inclined. There were some really pretty lily-like flowers on branches rather than spikes like real lilies. They were all purple and so lovely going around the outside of the lake. It's only 14 acres but has 8 different worlds on it.

I never saw a spider that big that wasn't a tarantula. And I have no idea what it was, searched all over the internet for an hour, without finding it. Judging from its appearance and its fierce attitude, I'm guessing it a relative of wolf spiders, but I sure would like to have verified its name to see if its huge size was just an anomaly of having a growth hormone other spiders do not have, and its weird appearance which I have been unable to identify at any arachnid site. They'll tell you there are 1000 known type spiders in the wolf spider family, but I haven't found a website yet that identifies spiders with common and latin scientific names, and tells of their dangers of poison problems if they bite you. That spider scared me, but I tried to keep my head and spoke gently to the beast before sending him over the side onto safe ground, hopefully.

Eeeewww!! Another good reason to live in Alaska. The largest spiders I've seen here are a decent size of less than 1/2", mostly. Well daddy longlegs are bigger because of their legs but they are too small to do any damage to people...other than creeping you out if they walk across your face while you're sleeping... Yup, you can keep your ginourmous spiders.
Another glorious day dawns here. We've been losing around 6 minutes of daylight daily so we have actual night time now. And so the seasons roll inexorably on in the way are wont to. We've been warned it might rain, but it's not looking too promising right now.

We also get encouraging weather reports that it could rain, but for several days now nothing despite us being in the heart of monsoon season. The fear is that it is going to be mostly a bust for New Mexico this year. Looked like eastern Arizona, including Peach's part of the world got some rain yesterday though.

Every season that passes with inadequate rain/snowfall means a significant increase in fire danger the following summer. Since I live in the woods, it makes me a little nervous, especially since the townies love to come out and have their bonfires in the nearby gravel lot. They think that building a fire there will prevent wildfires spreading but those embers can travel miles on a even a slight wind. We also have to take into consideration that about half of the spruce in this part of Alaska is beetle-killed, so they are standing torches.

 

[Ringel05]

A terrifying spider episode (sorry so long in the telling) ​

Spent the morning on the zero turn and the afternoon on the tractor. And when I went to the remote back area that is a triangular wedge next to one of the creeks that flank the place on each side--anyway, I got stuck in the wedge. A huge ropelike vine-tree must've fallen or whatever vine trees do, I'm not certain, anyway, it got snaggled in the upper part of the canopy, which twisted the tractor into going down position, so in panic, I turned the key to off, and it stopped. When it stopped, something was sticking me in the back. Several dead trees were nearby, and the little maneuver I unwittingly did jerked a huge leafless limb with stiff points where small branches used to be. I spent 10 minutes trying to free myself from this awful situation, and being pitch dark in bright daylight is why I think the creek bed flanks a quasi-jungle with plants horrific. Of course, the meadow end of the wedge has amazing small wildflowers from February to October, because the shade keeps things cooler there than out in the 100-degree Farenheit open pastures on a hot afternoon. Anyhow, I got unwoven in about 10 minutes, then had to figure how to get the tractor that was now stuck between two quite firm trees that weren't there 2 years ago, or were so small I didn't notice them. I have no idea how the 3" diameter vine tree got there, because it wasn't there, either the last time I visited the wedge. One problem I encountered was that the neighbor had routed his part of the floodplain into two runnoff areas that broached the wedge area on the north fenceline, and some of the land next to the creek bottom had sunk, which is why the tractor slipped. And it was 6 feet lower in the two areas than it was in the meadowed area. The pine tree that had been 4 ft. high was now at least 30, and it was looking sickly with reddish patches like the other pines I lost during the drought of 2011. I just couldn't get out of there fast enough when suddenly!!! a 3" dark spider with horizontal uneven stripes parachuted down directly in front of me when I was trying to get uphill and out of the spring sink area, so in addition to a little panic from travelling uphill on a forty-five degree angle, here's the biggest, fattest spider I ever saw in my life giving me dirty looks and descending fast. I grabbed the thick piece of silk he or she had descended on, which made the spider real mad at me in particular, so I grabbed it once again and tossed the line to the side, and the spider followed. Whew! close call. You never know what kind of monster spider will go after you, and I will consider walking without destroying the spider's tree habitat from now on. Those little wildflowers in the wild woods are a magnet to me, and no less precious today than their predecessors in my memory. They were just ... magic. And beautiful.

So I got every part of the yard mowed that needed mowing, then all afternoon spent time on the Kubota with its 60" hay cutter, mowing around the fence lines, and through places where one might like to walk if so inclined. There were some really pretty lily-like flowers on branches rather than spikes like real lilies. They were all purple and so lovely going around the outside of the lake. It's only 14 acres but has 8 different worlds on it.

I never saw a spider that big that wasn't a tarantula. And I have no idea what it was, searched all over the internet for an hour, without finding it. Judging from its appearance and its fierce attitude, I'm guessing it a relative of wolf spiders, but I sure would like to have verified its name to see if its huge size was just an anomaly of having a growth hormone other spiders do not have, and its weird appearance which I have been unable to identify at any arachnid site. They'll tell you there are 1000 known type spiders in the wolf spider family, but I haven't found a website yet that identifies spiders with common and latin scientific names, and tells of their dangers of poison problems if they bite you. That spider scared me, but I tried to keep my head and spoke gently to the beast before sending him over the side onto safe ground, hopefully.

I believe the only spiders seriously dangerous to humans at least in the continguous 48 states are the brown recluse and the black widow, both small spiders. All others have mouths too small to harm humans--the grand daddy longlegs for instance are deadly poisonous but cannot harm humans, even babies, because their mouth is too small to penetrate human skin. They are deadly to other spiders especially and small insects though. if you have a lot of grand daddy longlegs, you won't need to worry about any other spiders being around. The tarantula looks vicious but they have to be really provoked or frightened to bite and their bite, while not harmless, is not deadly and easily treated with soap and water and a cold compress to take down any swelling. It rarely needs any kind of professional medical attention.

Evenso, I would not have wanted your spider coming at me either. Maybe he wouldn't hurt me but he likely could cause me to hurt myself. Did you get your tractor unstuck?

How about scorpions? I've read that some of those can be deadly to humans. Don't you guys have scorpions there?

Out of the 25 species of scorpions only the Bark Scorpion is venomous and a danger to humans, they're mostly found in Arizona and Southwest New Mexico. No one has died from one of their stings in over 40 years.

 

[Dajjal]

We have large spiders and insects creeping in from abroad due to climate change. The only poisonous thing we had before was an adder (a snake) and in my 73 years I have never seen one.

 

[Nosmo King]

No real threat from spiders here in the upper Ohio River valley. Copperheads are our only indigenous venomous snake.

As for spiders, the notorious barking wall spider would cause giggles whenever someone broke wind during the Boy Scout meetings.

 

[Montrovant]

A terrifying spider episode (sorry so long in the telling) ​

Spent the morning on the zero turn and the afternoon on the tractor. And when I went to the remote back area that is a triangular wedge next to one of the creeks that flank the place on each side--anyway, I got stuck in the wedge. A huge ropelike vine-tree must've fallen or whatever vine trees do, I'm not certain, anyway, it got snaggled in the upper part of the canopy, which twisted the tractor into going down position, so in panic, I turned the key to off, and it stopped. When it stopped, something was sticking me in the back. Several dead trees were nearby, and the little maneuver I unwittingly did jerked a huge leafless limb with stiff points where small branches used to be. I spent 10 minutes trying to free myself from this awful situation, and being pitch dark in bright daylight is why I think the creek bed flanks a quasi-jungle with plants horrific. Of course, the meadow end of the wedge has amazing small wildflowers from February to October, because the shade keeps things cooler there than out in the 100-degree Farenheit open pastures on a hot afternoon. Anyhow, I got unwoven in about 10 minutes, then had to figure how to get the tractor that was now stuck between two quite firm trees that weren't there 2 years ago, or were so small I didn't notice them. I have no idea how the 3" diameter vine tree got there, because it wasn't there, either the last time I visited the wedge. One problem I encountered was that the neighbor had routed his part of the floodplain into two runnoff areas that broached the wedge area on the north fenceline, and some of the land next to the creek bottom had sunk, which is why the tractor slipped. And it was 6 feet lower in the two areas than it was in the meadowed area. The pine tree that had been 4 ft. high was now at least 30, and it was looking sickly with reddish patches like the other pines I lost during the drought of 2011. I just couldn't get out of there fast enough when suddenly!!! a 3" dark spider with horizontal uneven stripes parachuted down directly in front of me when I was trying to get uphill and out of the spring sink area, so in addition to a little panic from travelling uphill on a forty-five degree angle, here's the biggest, fattest spider I ever saw in my life giving me dirty looks and descending fast. I grabbed the thick piece of silk he or she had descended on, which made the spider real mad at me in particular, so I grabbed it once again and tossed the line to the side, and the spider followed. Whew! close call. You never know what kind of monster spider will go after you, and I will consider walking without destroying the spider's tree habitat from now on. Those little wildflowers in the wild woods are a magnet to me, and no less precious today than their predecessors in my memory. They were just ... magic. And beautiful.

So I got every part of the yard mowed that needed mowing, then all afternoon spent time on the Kubota with its 60" hay cutter, mowing around the fence lines, and through places where one might like to walk if so inclined. There were some really pretty lily-like flowers on branches rather than spikes like real lilies. They were all purple and so lovely going around the outside of the lake. It's only 14 acres but has 8 different worlds on it.

I never saw a spider that big that wasn't a tarantula. And I have no idea what it was, searched all over the internet for an hour, without finding it. Judging from its appearance and its fierce attitude, I'm guessing it a relative of wolf spiders, but I sure would like to have verified its name to see if its huge size was just an anomaly of having a growth hormone other spiders do not have, and its weird appearance which I have been unable to identify at any arachnid site. They'll tell you there are 1000 known type spiders in the wolf spider family, but I haven't found a website yet that identifies spiders with common and latin scientific names, and tells of their dangers of poison problems if they bite you. That spider scared me, but I tried to keep my head and spoke gently to the beast before sending him over the side onto safe ground, hopefully.

I believe the only spiders seriously dangerous to humans at least in the continguous 48 states are the brown recluse and the black widow, both small spiders. All others have mouths too small to harm humans--the grand daddy longlegs for instance are deadly poisonous but cannot harm humans, even babies, because their mouth is too small to penetrate human skin. They are deadly to other spiders especially and small insects though. if you have a lot of grand daddy longlegs, you won't need to worry about any other spiders being around. The tarantula looks vicious but they have to be really provoked or frightened to bite and their bite, while not harmless, is not deadly and easily treated with soap and water and a cold compress to take down any swelling. It rarely needs any kind of professional medical attention.

Evenso, I would not have wanted your spider coming at me either. Maybe he wouldn't hurt me but he likely could cause me to hurt myself. Did you get your tractor unstuck?

It seems the daddy long legs being extremely venomous is a myth: Are Daddy Longlegs Really the Most Venomous Spiders In the World?
Is a Daddy Longlegs a Danger to Humans?

I didn't recall ever hearing that particular claim before, so I looked it up.

 

[Montrovant]

A terrifying spider episode (sorry so long in the telling) ​

Spent the morning on the zero turn and the afternoon on the tractor. And when I went to the remote back area that is a triangular wedge next to one of the creeks that flank the place on each side--anyway, I got stuck in the wedge. A huge ropelike vine-tree must've fallen or whatever vine trees do, I'm not certain, anyway, it got snaggled in the upper part of the canopy, which twisted the tractor into going down position, so in panic, I turned the key to off, and it stopped. When it stopped, something was sticking me in the back. Several dead trees were nearby, and the little maneuver I unwittingly did jerked a huge leafless limb with stiff points where small branches used to be. I spent 10 minutes trying to free myself from this awful situation, and being pitch dark in bright daylight is why I think the creek bed flanks a quasi-jungle with plants horrific. Of course, the meadow end of the wedge has amazing small wildflowers from February to October, because the shade keeps things cooler there than out in the 100-degree Farenheit open pastures on a hot afternoon. Anyhow, I got unwoven in about 10 minutes, then had to figure how to get the tractor that was now stuck between two quite firm trees that weren't there 2 years ago, or were so small I didn't notice them. I have no idea how the 3" diameter vine tree got there, because it wasn't there, either the last time I visited the wedge. One problem I encountered was that the neighbor had routed his part of the floodplain into two runnoff areas that broached the wedge area on the north fenceline, and some of the land next to the creek bottom had sunk, which is why the tractor slipped. And it was 6 feet lower in the two areas than it was in the meadowed area. The pine tree that had been 4 ft. high was now at least 30, and it was looking sickly with reddish patches like the other pines I lost during the drought of 2011. I just couldn't get out of there fast enough when suddenly!!! a 3" dark spider with horizontal uneven stripes parachuted down directly in front of me when I was trying to get uphill and out of the spring sink area, so in addition to a little panic from travelling uphill on a forty-five degree angle, here's the biggest, fattest spider I ever saw in my life giving me dirty looks and descending fast. I grabbed the thick piece of silk he or she had descended on, which made the spider real mad at me in particular, so I grabbed it once again and tossed the line to the side, and the spider followed. Whew! close call. You never know what kind of monster spider will go after you, and I will consider walking without destroying the spider's tree habitat from now on. Those little wildflowers in the wild woods are a magnet to me, and no less precious today than their predecessors in my memory. They were just ... magic. And beautiful.

So I got every part of the yard mowed that needed mowing, then all afternoon spent time on the Kubota with its 60" hay cutter, mowing around the fence lines, and through places where one might like to walk if so inclined. There were some really pretty lily-like flowers on branches rather than spikes like real lilies. They were all purple and so lovely going around the outside of the lake. It's only 14 acres but has 8 different worlds on it.

I never saw a spider that big that wasn't a tarantula. And I have no idea what it was, searched all over the internet for an hour, without finding it. Judging from its appearance and its fierce attitude, I'm guessing it a relative of wolf spiders, but I sure would like to have verified its name to see if its huge size was just an anomaly of having a growth hormone other spiders do not have, and its weird appearance which I have been unable to identify at any arachnid site. They'll tell you there are 1000 known type spiders in the wolf spider family, but I haven't found a website yet that identifies spiders with common and latin scientific names, and tells of their dangers of poison problems if they bite you. That spider scared me, but I tried to keep my head and spoke gently to the beast before sending him over the side onto safe ground, hopefully.

I believe the only spiders seriously dangerous to humans at least in the continguous 48 states are the brown recluse and the black widow, both small spiders. All others have mouths too small to harm humans--the grand daddy longlegs for instance are deadly poisonous but cannot harm humans, even babies, because their mouth is too small to penetrate human skin. They are deadly to other spiders especially and small insects though. if you have a lot of grand daddy longlegs, you won't need to worry about any other spiders being around. The tarantula looks vicious but they have to be really provoked or frightened to bite and their bite, while not harmless, is not deadly and easily treated with soap and water and a cold compress to take down any swelling. It rarely needs any kind of professional medical attention.

Evenso, I would not have wanted your spider coming at me either. Maybe he wouldn't hurt me but he likely could cause me to hurt myself. Did you get your tractor unstuck?

How about scorpions? I've read that some of those can be deadly to humans. Don't you guys have scorpions there?

Out of the 25 species of scorpions only the Bark Scorpion is venomous and a danger to humans, they're mostly found in Arizona and Southwest New Mexico. No one has died from one of their stings in over 40 years.

As I understand it, all scorpions are venomous, but in the US, only the Bark scorpion has a venom which is dangerous to humans. That may be what you were saying, I just wasn't entirely sure.