The Dance

My twenty-year-old daughter Brandy called me the other night. While we were talking, she asked me if I remembered the daytime we watched a rover spin its web. I told her that I did, and she went on to carve up me that the experience was one of her fondest childhood memories. She was a little surprised when I told her it was also one of my favorite parenting memoriesOur family consisted of myself, my wife Sharon, Scott, my twelve-year-old stepson, eight-year-old Hugh, seven-year-old Brandy, five-year-old Justin, two cats and a Labrador assortment named Mitch. Since our a subtractment had only a small yard, the kids and I would take Mitch on short daily walks during the week. On the weekends, whenever possible, we would take him on long walks by dint of our small coastal community.During one of these weekend walks, we saw the spider.It was Sunday good afternoon on a beautiful California spring day. The sun was promising plot of ground the birds added their sweet melodies. The ai r was filled with that special atmosphere of newness that is crotchety to springtime.My quadruple children, Mitch and I were headed east, down Ninth Street. Ninth Street, in this part of town, is somely small shops and offices, and most of these are closed on Sundays.Mitch, same(p) all dogs, felt bound to investigate every tree or shrub along the path. As he was inspecting an oleander shrub in front of a small flower shop with an alcove, I sight the spider scurrying about in the left corner of the alcove.Since most of the spiders I encounter usually just sit around waiting for lunch, I stepped over to investigate this little flurry of activity. It appeared the little companion was building a new home. The spider had already built the primary(prenominal) structure of its spiral web. The supporting rays of silk were attached to various points on the adorn wall and window casing, and the first few spirals, at the center of the rays, had been completed.I gathered the kids into t he alcove and showed them the web. Mitch, having lost interest in the oleander, settled into the substitute of the alcove for a nap. As we watched, the spider began a fascinating leap Its eight legs moved swiftly in a repeating sequence, date its abdomen pivoted from one ray to the next spinning silk, all the while moving in an ever expanding spiral. We continued to watch the little spider until it reached what it, and Mother Nature, determined to be the outer ring of its new home. every(prenominal) one of us, except Mitch (who was cool off napping), were enchanted and impressed with the performance. The spider, however, appeared oblivious to our adulation.As we continued our walk, we talked about the spider over and over. When we got back home, all four children kept interrupting each other in their eagerness to describe to their suffer what they had seen. Hugh did an enthusiastic imitation of the spiders dance, wiggling his fanny to and fro while gesticulating wildly with hi s implements of war and legs. His efforts had us all laughing until we had tears in our eyes.I attain eternally been charmed by the natural world the acrobatics of squirrels, the cooing of pigeons, the uprise flight of hawks and falcons. Just the sight of a dragonfly sitting still on the end of my fishing pole grips my soul and fascinates my eyes.I had always hoped that I would pass my love of nature on to my children, so that they to a fault would know the particular wonder that only nature can inspire. At the time as I watched and listened to my childrens excitement over the simple dance of a small spider, I felt my hope might be becoming a reality. Knowing that the memory is still cherished by Brandy thirteen years later I feel sure she, at least, got the lesson right.