Why do spiders like bathtubs? It’s not as if they want to take a bubble bath or a quick refreshing shower.  I frequently find one lurking in my tub. Today I was cleaning the tile floor in the hall bathroom when I spied a daddy longlegs. I always save this type of spider. I have fond memories of playing with them when I was a girl. If you caught a daddy longlegs and said, “Where are the cows?” he would point in the right direction with one of his wavering appendages—a tiny GPS system as far as cattle was concerned.

I no longer live on a farm so don’t need any directions from spiders. I caught this one in a tissue and carried him towards the front door. You must be careful with these long-legged creatures or they will shed one of their legs in order to get away.  That must be what this one did because when I got outside to shake the tissue over a geranium plant no spider fell away. How frustrating. I’d gone to all that trouble to save the silly thing, not to mention picking a lovely place for him to live, only to discover this daddy longlegs did not want to be saved.

I searched the foyer and the hallway but could not find him. He is probably making his way back to the bathtub.

I’m not so nice to other creepy crawlers. I can’t bear those bugs we call thousand legs or those hairy jumping spiders. When I see one, I spray them with hairspray so they can’t see what’s coming and then smash them with a shoe, but spiders that will tell you where the cows are worthy to be saved.

My son took this picture of a writing spider that was living in my flower garden catching bugs and being useful. He lived there all summer. Some spiders appreciate a beautiful home—others are satisfied in bathtubs.

Happy 4^th of July!