The Spider & The Bee

The writer in me is forever on alert for settings.

Deep in the forest lies a grandfather tree with dense, green moss coating its scraggly branches. It doesn’t lie alone.

Eerily creepy is the shady, dank stillness beneath a canopy of firs. The silent, electric air precedes danger. That something will happen, that the THING will jump out, hovers. It doesn’t jump. It effortlessly slithers up the back of my leg…

They are icky, sticky, slimy, and gooey, and made for little boys. It was the boys who’d run in telling me about the very large yellow spider they’d discovered on the swing set, or the white spider they’d seen, the one with a red spot. It was my boys who took great pleasure showing me the creepers, critters, and crawlers of country living.

My little boys’ playground was filled with critters, and the mother in me smiles.


I took a stroll in our yard the other day. It’s no forest, but it is park-like with country spacing and ample room to roam, run, and discover. The trees, shrubs, orchard, open spaces, grassy areas, and dense bushes abut our 23 acres of nursery, which abuts a tree farm. We live in critter country.

I moseyed, deep in thought about the two little boys who used to romp in these very bushes. I stopped cold when I saw the following. I grabbed my camera, smiled, and began filming.

I walked back to take a second peek.

And again for some still shots.

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Because these are the things that make little boys smile.

Photos and videos are property of klhoskins2016~copyright.

  2 comments for “The Spider & The Bee

  1. May 15, 2016 at 3:38 pm

    They make little boys smile and they made me smile, too. A wonderful post with a detailed, attention-grabbing beginning. It sounds like you raised your boys in a great place.

    Liked by 1 person

    • May 15, 2016 at 4:32 pm

      Thank you so much! Your comments make me smile! Yes, we are on a tiny hunk of paradise, and I appreciate daily our ability to live here. Sure miss those kids–we have a daughter also who was not as thrilled with critters as her brothers–and when they brought me all of their treasures. So glad I had my camera when that unlucky bee met its fate. 😉

      Liked by 1 person

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