Eeeek!

Today, as I walked out into the lovely morning sunshine toward my mailbox, one of my letters dropped onto the driveway. I swooped down quick to pick it up, and that's when I saw it.
I admit, I have a problem with spiders. Now, if I see a tiny spider (like those little jumping ones you might find on a windowsill) or even a daddy long legs, it's not an issue. But when they get to be about Quarter-sized and up, it's a definite issue. I scream, I shake, I have the creepy-crawlies for hours. The good news is, I haven't seen too many spiders for the better part of 10 years. In our old Minneapolis houses, we had 3" centipedes which were horrors themselves, but they ate all the other insects. My life for the past decade has been virtually insect-free. Huzzah!
Since we moved back to the country, however, they're back. They're huge and they're everywhere! I frequently write to my girlfriends and tell them about all the huge spiders I see around here. I'm sure they think i'm being dramatic, or that perhaps my real problem is that I just love to complain about insects (i've written many an email about the grotesque 3" centipedes).
That's why I decided to take a picture of my driveway spider. I even placed an oak leaf nearby to showoff his massive size. Could the devil himself be any more horrifying? The sucker is huge!

I have to go faint now.