Marvin's in the hall -- the world is OK

I ran a check this morning after my shower, and there he was, 'Marvin the Hall Spider' sitting just outside the bathroom door. He reared back for a moment and then relaxed realizing it was me, once he'd checked me out with all six eyes.

Marvin has been there for about a week now. I'm not sure what his name really is, and maybe Salticidae Phideppi (jumping spiders) have a different form of nomenclature amongst their own kind. His name might well be either Wendell or even P1/2&gh%iii@ in the Phideppi dialect. But, I named him after Marvin the Depressive Robot in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Not to suggest that Marvin is a depressive. I don't know if depression is a factor amongst arachnids.

Anyway, Marvin is a Jumping Spider, as I suggested We get a lot of jumping spiders in the house this time of year. I regard them as fine little harbingers of spring. And when they come indoors, they take up residence in a specific area, and generally do not move away from there. Marvin is in the hall. We had one on the fridge door for a couple of weeks. Last year I had one near my computer keyboard. He never bothered me, and I never bothered him. One morning I came in and found that he had passed away. I felt bad about that, because there was no indication that he was even sick.

You might think that my acceptance of spiders is just so much foolishness, but it isn't really. Spiders do a wonderful service. Since I am a bit of a Buddhist about killing things and, as I have stated before, will try to encourage an intruding insect to head outdoors. I draw the line at flies, mosquitoes and earwigs, just because they are nasty and spread disease. But otherwise, I defer to the spiders in the house. They are my mini-hitmen, and they are really adept at carrying through with a contract. I find little insect corpses, especially in the garage, all the time. And, my more sensitive sensibilities remain intact because I have had no direct role to play in their demise.

Spiders are actually fascinating creatures. I recall an article I read one time in which the entomologist relating factoids about arachnid behavior pointed out that they are, hands-down, the most efficient and vicious killing machines in the animal kingdom. They are utterly without remorse or hesitation. Spiders kill. They devote their brief lives to killing. They make big predators, like tiger sharks, for example, seem almost as benevolent as guppies, and grizzlies as kindly as Labrador puppies. But, with spiders, there are no flights of remorse or sympathy for their victims. Now, you gotta respect that.

So, just checked again. Marvin's still there. The world is still as it should be.