The, larger than a ladybug, spider hangs upside down on her intricate, yet unseen thread, dangling just above the water’s surface. Her extra long legs, three times the length of her slender figure, are barely seen by the naked eye. The one thread she purposefully strides along (still upside down) traverses the entire width of the koi pond. The koi, big and small, swim effortlessly in the waters below.

I am drawn into spider’s finely spun web meant to catch her nurturement, those little flying insects on their way to and from the water’s surface. Those little buggers who we swat at and wiggle away from wincing as we sigh, “Ew, yuck.” Yet for her, it‘s how she lives.

A new world unfolds, and I see other spiders, some smaller than her, maybe even her children, who have spun their webs to span the pond. The whole pond is covered with a microcosm of spider web strands. She drew me back into her trance, calling me to ponder.

So many metaphors to...