I have to be honest, I’ve been laughing about it for an hour now, it was one of the great Maria moments at Bedlam Farm. I got a big box from FedEx, and was surprised to see a heavy rock for the fish tank I ordered weeks and weeks ago and forgot about it.

Maria, curious as always, came over to see what dumb thing I had done now, and we both saw a big spider crawling across the top of the box.

It either came from California or was living in our mailbox. It was pretty big.

I used to kill spiders but don’t any longer since Maria loves spiders and re-homes them outside. They seem to jump onto her hands, knowing somehow that she is their protector and will get them to safety.

I got yelled at many times for killing spiders I found in the bathroom, but I gave that up.

She yelled at me to open the front door and she grabbed the box and headed out to the back porch.  The spider jumped or fell off onto the concrete, and Maria suddenly dropped the box, which landed right on top of the spider and flattened him instantly.

I can’t say precisely why, but I just cracked up.

Maria, horrified, shook her head and ran back into the house. I guess I was in a wicked mood, she went for a walk and when she came back, I told her a bunch of spiders appeared on the porch to protest the killing and to sing “Lonesome Valley” by Woody Guthrie.

I did get her to laugh and before she killed the spider, she had asked me to come into her studio and take a video of her beautiful new quilt, which is about to go on sale. I did, but I couldn’t stop laughing.

So the story was told on the video.

Maria has changed me, but there is something inside of me that is a troublemaker, and it has been a part of me all of my life. I guess it’s still there.

Come and see, the story lived, and I escaped with my life. I’m still laughing though. Somehow, it was the perfect story about us and the way we love and accept each other.