It seems all my life as far back has I can remember, I've had a fear of spiders. Doesn't matter what kind they are how big or small. I don't like them. Very early in life my dad would chase me around with Tarantula's. That is one of my early memories as a little guy, I was about 2 to 3 years old. Tarantula's were all over the place we had fifty acres outside of Rockport with a big pond in the back yard, we had goats, turkeys a pet coon named Rosco, we even had a monkey till my mother made my dad get rid of it. Monkeys are natural born biters, and meaner than Hell to. The Monkey lasted about a week an he had chewed up everybody pretty good.
My dad was a Doctor and open the first Hospital up here in Aransas Pass and Rockport, both were small fishing towns. Many of the shrimpers would go down in to Mexican waters to fish, they would bring back all kinds of pets, from there. So many of them couldn't pay there bills so my dad would take trade for his services. so we got all kinds of animals and kept well fed with fresh fish and shrimp.
Well back to the spiders everybody in my family knew I didn't like spiders at all, but every spring when the yellow garden spiders would cover the roads with there web and them sitting right in the middle of it waiting for a meal. Well one morning my grandfather and my uncle Herb told me to come with them they needed to go check on something, so I got in the back of our 1947 Willis jeep, my grandfather told me to get the hoe handle and get on the hood. I knew then we were going to the river. The white brush was at least 8 to 10 feet tall down that narrow rode and it would be covered in garden spiders which webs would go from one side to the other side of the road and many of these spiders would go 4 inches in a circle, like I said they are sitting in the middle of them waiting for something to fly into them. Well it was a damp night and the grass was wet so I thought I might get lucky and the dew would have the webs hanging low. Well we took off crossed the rail road tracks and I opened the gate I knew then it was going to be a long ride for me. I could see then all ready hanging there no where near the ground like I had hoped for. Well I got up on the hood of the old Willis jeep with my feet on the front bumper and we took off. Herb was in a jacking around mood that morning he would speed up every time we came up to a web and I be swinging like hell to knock them down. Finally we came to a spot were they where stacked up one right after another an Herb took off like hell and I was screaming for him to slow down that's when I noticed I had one crawling on my neck and one on my arm and still trying to knock the webs down we were coming too, and get the 2 off me at the same time, that's when I heard my grandfather scream out in pain. Some where in all the commotion I'd had reared back with the hoe handle hit my grandfather in the collar bone, it was about then I rolled off the side of the jeep to get the spiders off me not caring if the jeep ran me over. I came up cursing like a sailor with the jeep stopped in front of me, I saw my grandfather holding his right shoulder. He gave me that look and it had dawned on me about what I had just said, plus I smacked the crap out of him, and jumping off a moving vehicle I knew I was dead for sure at that moment. If his shoulder didn't hurt so bad he would of beat the crap out of me right there. Herb told my grandfather it was his fault for most of it and got me off the hook for some of it, but like my grandfather said the cursing was not going to be put up with. The rest of way to the river Herb slowed down I kept the spiders off everybody and I was scared to death not of the spiders but the whipping that was heading my way.
When we got back to the house I was ready to write out my last will, but to my surprises he took me out back and told me he had thought about it and knew I didn't like spiders so he would cut we some slack this one time, but if I every pulled a stunt like that again he would put some old school on me. I think I was about 10 then. Many years later were laughing about it and he admitted that if his right shoulder wasn't hurting so bad from me hitting him with the hoe handle he would have beat the crap out of me for my choice of words that day. To this day I still don't like spiders.
My dad was a Doctor and open the first Hospital up here in Aransas Pass and Rockport, both were small fishing towns. Many of the shrimpers would go down in to Mexican waters to fish, they would bring back all kinds of pets, from there. So many of them couldn't pay there bills so my dad would take trade for his services. so we got all kinds of animals and kept well fed with fresh fish and shrimp.
Well back to the spiders everybody in my family knew I didn't like spiders at all, but every spring when the yellow garden spiders would cover the roads with there web and them sitting right in the middle of it waiting for a meal. Well one morning my grandfather and my uncle Herb told me to come with them they needed to go check on something, so I got in the back of our 1947 Willis jeep, my grandfather told me to get the hoe handle and get on the hood. I knew then we were going to the river. The white brush was at least 8 to 10 feet tall down that narrow rode and it would be covered in garden spiders which webs would go from one side to the other side of the road and many of these spiders would go 4 inches in a circle, like I said they are sitting in the middle of them waiting for something to fly into them. Well it was a damp night and the grass was wet so I thought I might get lucky and the dew would have the webs hanging low. Well we took off crossed the rail road tracks and I opened the gate I knew then it was going to be a long ride for me. I could see then all ready hanging there no where near the ground like I had hoped for. Well I got up on the hood of the old Willis jeep with my feet on the front bumper and we took off. Herb was in a jacking around mood that morning he would speed up every time we came up to a web and I be swinging like hell to knock them down. Finally we came to a spot were they where stacked up one right after another an Herb took off like hell and I was screaming for him to slow down that's when I noticed I had one crawling on my neck and one on my arm and still trying to knock the webs down we were coming too, and get the 2 off me at the same time, that's when I heard my grandfather scream out in pain. Some where in all the commotion I'd had reared back with the hoe handle hit my grandfather in the collar bone, it was about then I rolled off the side of the jeep to get the spiders off me not caring if the jeep ran me over. I came up cursing like a sailor with the jeep stopped in front of me, I saw my grandfather holding his right shoulder. He gave me that look and it had dawned on me about what I had just said, plus I smacked the crap out of him, and jumping off a moving vehicle I knew I was dead for sure at that moment. If his shoulder didn't hurt so bad he would of beat the crap out of me right there. Herb told my grandfather it was his fault for most of it and got me off the hook for some of it, but like my grandfather said the cursing was not going to be put up with. The rest of way to the river Herb slowed down I kept the spiders off everybody and I was scared to death not of the spiders but the whipping that was heading my way.
When we got back to the house I was ready to write out my last will, but to my surprises he took me out back and told me he had thought about it and knew I didn't like spiders so he would cut we some slack this one time, but if I every pulled a stunt like that again he would put some old school on me. I think I was about 10 then. Many years later were laughing about it and he admitted that if his right shoulder wasn't hurting so bad from me hitting him with the hoe handle he would have beat the crap out of me for my choice of words that day. To this day I still don't like spiders.
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That was funny as heck. I am no great lover of spiders either and I can relate with that!
