Well golly!

    Actually it was "Jesus Christ!", but that probably isn't cool for an entry title and I used "Eeeek!" yesterday. I went to West Columbia Riverwalk today. I was well-pleased to find it open and that the amphitheater was unhurt other than missing a stage. (For all I know it may have been dismantled before the flood; it wasn't all that elaborate.) I got down to the Gervais Street Bridge and saw signs that the boardwalk north of there was closed. Then I saw why; it was largely gone. So I was trying to get the perfect juxtaposition of Trail Closed sign with trail actually being nonexistent and was backing and circling and looked behind me and saw a banana spider the size of my hand.
    This was when I said, "Jesus Christ!" And no, it wasn't the size of my hand. Nor was it a banana spider, strictly speaking, but a golden-silk orb weaver, which we-uns call banana spiders because of the shape of their heads. (In the rest of the world, banana spiders are tarantulas that are found on bananas.) She was the size of my palm, though, if you include her legs but not my fingers. She took a pretty alarming picture also with the Trail Closed sign included, suggesting that she did it.
    There was an art teacher and some art students at the next picnic table along. I had to show somebody the picture, so I did. Twenty feet away, you could still clearly see the effing spider. He went to investigate, so I guess I did right to tell him.