I biked along the San Lorenzo River this afternoon, searching for a good spot to sketch to get a few more reference drawings for building a Devonian riverbed ecosystem. I found a good spot, hopped off my bike and started trampling through the dead grass at the banks. The water in the river was low and there were large sections of drowned re-exposed grass. I saw one spider, then two, then I stopped looking for a good place to lay down (to get the best low angle, from creature perspective) and started looking at my feet. There were millions of chubby, dime sized black spiders. I'm not arachnophobic, but the idea of laying on my stomach in a bed of grass teeming with spiders was too much even for me. Instead, I climbed back up the riverbank and drew this in the remaining daylight.
Just imagine, at the grass at the base of that tree, there are spiders as dense as 20 spiders to the square foot.
Walkabout 
Em, I keep forgetting to tell you…when I was hunting for your bowls among the bisque ware shelves, I found one of yours on the bottom with a tiny little spider in it. I thought the spider was dead, but when I blew gently, it scuttled out of the bowl and out of sight. I thought you might like that story. :-)By the way, I found your last bowl and glazed it navy blue. I should have it next time I see you.