The Spider and the Ant

This post deals with a couple of different concepts; predator and prey, and caring and compassion. But in this story, they go together! Trust me.

I went for a walk recently. The weather was hot and the sun was shining. I walked a mile up to the local park and then started the walk home. Usually, I have Maggie with me but she is no longer able to handle the heat or the hills so this time I walked alone. Generally, I feel safe when I walk, but I am always aware that you never know if some crazy will come along. Maggie would have been useless as a protector, but no one else knew that so she always makes me feel better.

Anyway, I was walking up a fairly steep hill towards home. In Florida this hill would be just under the heading of MOUNTAIN, but in Pittsburgh it's pretty small as hills go. I was about half way up when I noticed an ant and a spider. I couldn't tell if the ant had the spider on a thread and was dragging it, or if the spider was following the ant. They were staying just about the same distance as they went across the sidewalk. Curious, I stopped to watch. It was soon apparent that the ant was being followed by the spider. I bent over closer to get a better look. (Maybe my run in with the bees didn't teach me much.) The spider pounced a couple of times, and then jumped back. Eventually, the spider did catch the ant. There was nothing profound in the moment. It was just an interesting moment in nature for me.

Finally, I stood up, wiped the sweat from my eyes and continued up the hill towards home. I heard a car approach from behind me and slow down. (It is just the kind of thing I don't like to hear when I'm walking alone.) Hmmm. Someone wanting directions, I hoped? I heard a woman's voice and I looked over.

"Are you ok?" she asked? " I saw you bent over back there."

I laughed and waved. "I'm fine. I was just watching a spider chase an ant!"

She smiled back. " I saw you when I went past and just wanted to be sure you were ok."

Yep, Just a slightly overweight older lady, red-faced, sweat dripping off her nose, bent double, half-way up a steep hill....watching a spider catch an ant.

And a woman taking a moment from her busy day to make sure everything was ok.