What's an arachnophobic to do?

You don't have to know me very long to figure out my biggest fear.  Like so many other people, I am arachnophobic.  Big spiders, little spiders, hairy spiders, jumpy spiders....I'm giving myself the creeps just thinking about it.  I've always hated them, but I'll admit that it's gotten worse as I've gotten older.  The other day, in front of a group of high school students,  I grabbed hold of a young man and demanded that he step on a rather large specimen that was scurrying across the hallway.  I may have been hysterical, screaming and very close to tears.  And when  refused  I may have told him that HE was the MAN and he needed to KILL IT!  I ended up having to step on it, nearly passed out and was consoled by my very own 16 year old daughter. Not a stellar day in my career as an adult. 

So when fall arrives and the spiders begin their last battle before being killed off by the cold, I try to stay away from places that the creepy hairy things might take up residence.  This includes outside doorways, low hanging branches and my own front porch.  But a gal has to let the dog out some time and the other night in the glow of my driveway light I saw the silhouette of  a rather large spider on a giant web off the side of the porch.  I went inside and when the dog wanted to come in,  I opened and shut the door as quickly as possible. 

I stepped out this morning to enjoy the crisp air and my spider buddy was still there. I took a deep breath, held it and gave that spider a good long stare.   I have to admit that his web is pretty impressive.  The shutter bug in me is extra impressed by his composition.  So I took some pictures.  I used the zoom, of course.  He never moved. I think if he had my little experiement may have ended with him covered in bug spray.   As it is, I've returned to the saftey of my living room and I locked the screen door to make sure he couldn't get in.