Tuesday, September 15, 2009

shoes: a cautionary tale

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In my garage, yesterday.

And this validates 40 years of checking my shoes before sticking my feet inside.

I grew up in the swamps of South Carolina, where there are at least 497 poisonous species of arachnids, insects and reptiles. And they live in small dark places. Many actually claim unsuspecting tennis shoes as a their natural habitat. (Don’t doubt me. I am the Swamp Queen.) I live in the Upstate now, where (relatively) frigid winters prevent said predators from living here. (Swamp Queens don’t do so well in the winter either, just sayin’.)

What the critters here lack in venom, they make up for in size. When I first moved here, a spider kept me from reaching my car when it positioned itself accordingly in the garage. It was the size of a Jack Russell terrier. Camel crickets invade us every summer --- these are not the “lucky household legend” little black crickets. Truly, they have taken years off my life, leaping out in attack every summer.

So this Monk-like obsession I have with screening my tennis shoes? I stand fully validated. Don unchecked shoes at your own risk, people.

3 comments:

Tim said...

I'm of the belief all spiders can kill you.

Heather said...

OK, seriously, my mouth dropped open when I saw that photo and read your post. I spent two years in Atlanta, and I remember the "check your shoes before sticking your feet in" warning.

You amaze me that you can live with those kinds of spiders and insects. I consider myself to be a lover of spiders and bugs, but I have to admit those suckers would scare me to death.

Annie Kate said...

I am so very, very, very glad I live in Canada! Even pictures of these warm climate beasties frighten me.

But I have had frogs in my shoes.

Annie Kate