Anyone who has ever ridden, or rather, *driven* a four-wheeler on a tree-lined path will know exactly why this four-wheeler is sporting a lovely branch of wilted leaves.

It’s a “spider stick”. And it’s the person in front, if you’re riding double, who appreciates this little contraption most of all.

I am not *scared* of spiders, I just don’t want them on my face.

You can see some of the several webs and residents in the pics below. This wasn’t even half of them, but only the ones who stayed along for the ride. I collected these on my spider stick during one trip to the mailbox and back.

It is wasps that cause me to feel panic, particularly the ones trapped inside of a car with me. The discovery of such a horror will have me bailing as fast as I can slam on the brakes and open the door.

That fear must be hereditary. One day I happened across my daughter. Her car was stopped in the middle of the dirt road with all 4 doors wide open.  She was outside, frantic. My two granddaughters inside were screaming at the top of their lungs. Poor kids were safely buckled into their car seats. But Gab, being cursed with my cursed fear of wasps in the car, had bailed, leaving the kids in the car to face their fate.

No worries – we got the wasp out and no one was stung. The kids recovered, but are likely also going to have our phobia even if it isn’t inherited. Hard not to after such an experience, ha. Probably a good study for nature vs nurture.

So yes. The scariest thing is wasps, not spiders. But it’s really hard to pay attention to controlling the 4-wheeler when there’s a spider somewhere on me. I’m very grateful to my eldest son who showed me how to make the stick hold itself in place. Now I’m not trying to drive one-handed while holding the stick in the other.