Today did not begin well. I heard a hissing in the wall behind the shower — the plumbing equivalent of discovering an unexpected lump somewhere on the body. Instead of setting out at 9:15 am, when the temperature was a pleasant 74 degrees, I set out an hour and a quarter and a couple of telephone calls later, very much distracted. For the first time in ages, I walked from one end of Piney Woods Church Road to the other without taking a single photograph, the Sun all the time climbing still higher in the sky. On my return journey, I halfheartedly took a few photographs of brightly colored fallen laves on the road and backlit green leaves with shadows — nothing inspired, but something to fall back on if necessary. I still felt no particular worry. For 193 days, I had walked the same stretch of roadway, finding at least one moment of wonder every single time. And today was no exception.
About halfway back to Rico Rd., I discovered this spider in the center of a huge web at head-height, oriented perpendicular to the road edge. It is sometimes called the Crab Spider,, because it is shaped rather like a crab with paired spines along its abdomen. According to Spiders of the Carolinas, it is actually a Spined Micrathena (Micrathena gracilis). Like most all Georgia spiders, it is harmless to people, and can even be handled safely by its spines, though I am not clear why one would opt to do that. It is an abundant spider of mixed open hardwoods, like the forest strip edging Piney Woods Church Road.
