This afternoon I got into the car to go to Curves. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I glanced briefly to my left, and amazed even myself with the sheer girlyness of my shriek. I think only the fact that there were no cars coming saved me from the inevitable accident as I swerved all over the road in response to the sight of the hugest wolf spider I'd ever seen sitting on my window. It took a few heart-pounding moments to determine that the spider was on the *outside* of the window, and not inside the car. And then I spent the rest of the ride eying the spider nervously as it scuttled all over the window.

The logical part of my brain knows that wolf spiders are perfectly harmless. But the fact that they are large and hairy, much like tarantulas, and that they have a tendency to rear up and shake their front legs in a menacing manner when cornered overruled all logic. I had pretty much resigned myself to getting out on the passenger side of the car in order to avoid any way for the spider to get into the car once I opened the door, when suddenly the trip was too much for it and it blew away, tumbling through the air out of sight.

Once it was gone and no longer could scare the pants off me, I felt a little guilty for the fact that it was probably now road kill. But that didn't make up for those moments of sheer panic when I saw it face to face