Today is Einstein’s birthday — my cat, Einstein, that is. She and I stayed up very late last night celebrating (yes, while Coco and Boomerang were slumbering) by standing outside on the screened in porch, mesmerized by a spider that has built a GIGANTIC web very close to a motion-sensor outdoor light.

There was a gorgeous breeze, not too strong, not too light. The night air (around midnight, I guess), was spectacularly fresh and calming. I held Einstein in my arms so she could reach out and bat at the moths on the other side of the screen, who were attracted by the light which was staying on nonstop because, I believe, the spider’s web, which was moving every now and again as a result of the breeze, was creating enough “motion” to turn the light on.

I was amazed by the spider who stayed in the middle of her web mostly while little tiny, almost imperceptible insects were snagged by the web strands. Suddenly, she unbent her legs and started moving toward one of the larger insects, scooped it up somehow and took it back with her to the center. What she did with it there I couldn’t tell. Can anyone help me in identifying this spider type? I tried to find it on the Internet and no luck.

I was impressed with her strategy. Building her home so near a light, so that the light would attract what she needed.

The back story to this story is that when I came home from WSLR Sunday night, it was pouring, just really a driving kind of rain. When I went out on to the porch, the outdoor light was on and I could see the spider hanging on for dear life to her web which was being buffeted this way and that by the wind and the pouring rain. She was definitely struggling — she was scurrying every which way to find a strand that would take her to safety, out of the rain, but honestly, she couldn’t seem to get anywhere. I really felt badly for her and was (I know this sounds a bit batty) thinking if there was some way I could rig a protective cover over the web. That’s why I went out last night again — to check on her and see if she’d made it through Sunday night’s torrent. She had.

I think there’s something to learn from this spider and I’m giving that some thought today. Where we build our homes and how and why? What is a home? How can we create it in ways that attract the most light and build it with the best attributes so that our sustenance will literally almost come to our front door?
How can we build it to protect ourselves and give us shelter when we need a sanctuary from the storm? And, ultimately, is there room for more than one spider in the webs we weave?

That’s what I’m thinking about today, as Einstein sleeps next to my desk, tuckered out from her midnight mystical meanderings with MC. Happy Birthday, baby!