We have a new resident on our patio. Her correct name is Argeope aurantia. Her common name is the Black and Yellow Garden Spider. I have named her Charlotte. She has strung her web between the firecracker plant and some hanging baskets, and has settled in for the summer. Her web is a circular affair designed to ensnare unsuspecting insects. Each morning Charlotte spins a dense zigzag of silk known as a stabilimentum in the center of the web. Sometimes when I drink my coffee on the patio in the early morning, I get to watch her do her early morning spinning. When she has completed the task, she hangs upside down on the stabilimentum for the entire day in all kinds of weather and withering heat.
The name “Charlotte” is not original with me. E. B. White used the name for the spider who was a major figure in his children’s book, Charlotte’s Web. His book tells the story of a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider named Charlotte. When Wilbur was born, he was the runt of the litter and the farmer who owned him decided to kill him. However, his eight-year-old daughter Fern begged him to let the pig live, and her father agreed to do so.
Wilbur was a hyperactive pig, always exploring new things. He lived with Fern for a few weeks and then was sold to her uncle. Wilbur became very lonely on the new farm where he had been sent to live, but eventually he met a new friend. It was Charlotte, the barn spider. Wilbur became part of a whole new community of animals, and was very happy. But one day word came to Wilbur that he was going to be killed and eaten at Christmas. He turned to Charlotte for help. Charlotte had the idea of writing words in her web bragging on Wilbur. So, each day when the farmer would come to the barn he would see words about Wilbur spelled out in Charlotte’s web—things like “some pig”, “terrific”, and “radiant”. Thanks to these positive words of encouragement and affirmation, Wilbur not only lived, but went to the county fair with Charlotte and won a prize.
You’ve got to admire someone like Charlotte who sees the best in someone and devotes her life to extolling it. A lot of persons will give you the “low down” on someone. But I am grateful for those who give us the “high up” on others. They are always looking for the best and are doing everything in their power to call attention to it.
We all need people like that in our corner. I came out for my early morning coffee on the patio a few days ago. I sat in the Adirondack chair, glanced in Charlotte’s direction, and thought I saw spelled out in her web the words “Great Preacher.” I looked again, and saw that I was mistaken. It was just a couple of pine straws that had become lodged at crazy angles in her web. But who knows what may yet appear? We still have a few weeks of summer left, and Charlotte has a lot of spinning still to do!
