The Tarantula!
Just the name used to send shudders through my entire body. Tarantula….Something about the way the letters are formed seems to perfectly describe this hairy arachnid. As a boy, a tarantula was an orange and black patterned monster that grew to be the size of my face.
(Okay, so we are talking about the Mexican red leg tarantula and it gets about the size of my palm. Give me a break… I was seven)
So anyway, this platter sized spider was living in every corner of my bedroom. I would see them crawling up and down my Spiderman curtains. Every giant Superman Logo on my blanket was actually a tarantula bent on eating me.
We had shag carpet back then, and it just happened to be orange and black in my bedroom. It was hairy. It felt like tartantulas all over my floor.
More than anything, my irrational fear of these tarantulas stemmed from watching the made for television classic, “Tarantulas” back in the late 70s I beleive. Whatever the case, they were everywhere in my bedroom as a kid.
That fear led to wonder. The wonder led to curiosity. Now, in my adult years, that fear has led to fascination. I love to watch this incredible creatures. I love to learn about spiders and tarantulas in particular. They still give me the willies, mind you…
I do not wish to have a tarantula in my bed. I knew there was a great reason to get rid of those Superman bed sheets.
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