The Contrapositive Spider

I know, I know. I should never, ever again, in all the history of blogging, have to post another spider picture.

But I'm going to today.
And then I'm done.
Hopefully.

But first a story.

A couple of years ago I planted hydrangeas in my backyard. I love hydrangeas...white hydrangeas, and purple hydrangeas, and blue hydrangeas, and pink hydrangeas, and green hydrangeas, and well, you get the idea. But these weren't really hydrangeas I planted. They were just stalks of wood. With a leaf or two. (Long story...don't ask.) I dug up the earth, poked them in the dirt, and have spent the last two years wondering if they would ever grow and bloom.

Imagine my delight when this spring I looked out my window and off my deck and saw those stalks of wood all full and green and covered with buds!

YAY! I actually squealed with delight at this sight! And waited anxiously to see what color they were. Really.
I had no idea. Because the stalks of wood I plopped into the ground were just plain brown.

Well, now my hydrangeas are in full bloom and they are...white!! Yay!
This is nothing too special because most hydrangeas are white. But still, I love white hydrangeas!

In addition to being white, these hydrangeas are loud.
Very loud.
And for days they have been screaming at me to come inside.
In a vase.
For my table.

So the other day I went outside with some scissors and snipped away a beautiful bouquet. And I brought it inside to strip the leaves, snip some more, dip the stems in boiling water, and rest them in a vase of cool water.

(You should know that displaying freshly cut hydrangeas is actually a little more complicated than displaying freshly picked dandelions.)

While I was snipping one stem I saw this little white bubble sitting on top of a bloom.

So I picked it up.
And guess what...

It was a spider!!!
Yes, you read that right. A spider!
That I picked up!!!

Then put down...
Quickly!

Then I watched. It was the most beautiful little spider I have ever seen. Creamy white, and exactly the color of my hydrangeas. Its little bubbly back even looked textured like my hydrangeas. I took pictures. And I could not bring myself to squish such a lovely creature. So The Man put it in a little container for me. And I carefully deposited it back on top of one of the hydrangea plants...outside.

You should know that when I dropped it on top of the plant, its legs turned green to match the stem it was clinging to. And its body stayed white to match the bloom it was partially resting on. Very cool!

But ever since I have been trying very hard to forget about the thought of what color it might turn if deposited on a very dark slice of rotten potato. Oy.

The Spider

The Hydrangeas

The End