Shawnna's Blog - Oct 31, 2019

RIP Charlotte..... She lived her short life in an unassuming way and her death has been unassuming as well. She lived her life doing what she was supposed to do as her Creator meant her to live. She taught this woman many lessons for which I will always be grateful. 

Her web is empty and soon the weather will destroy it all together. I will always remember the detail of each new web she would create. She never made two just alike. Another beautiful thing has come to an end but we must not look at the end as final. We must learn to cherish the gift of the time we had and celebrate it. What if we never met exceptional people and had marvelous experiences, ever? It hurts when different seasons of our life end. To me, the pain is evidence of a complete heart that was able to appreciate the beauty fully at the time. 

Those of us left behind have to navigate a new “normal” and figure out how to put the pieces of our heart back together. In my experience, I can only do that by fighting as hard as I can to keep hope that there IS a brighter day coming. That new life will come. I will once again experience beauty. And as sure as the sun rises and sets, it happens. It’s different. But it happens. None of us are getting out of here without scars....but we don’t have to bleed forever.

Shawnna's Blog - Oct 4th, 2019

Yesterday was full of emotion. I received challenging news from several different sources for both me personally and for my friends. I found myself all day long adjusting my attitude and purposely choosing (we DO get to choose what we think!) to think about what is true instead of what I see. 

On top of that, a man walked by my spider and with one swoop of his hand destroyed her home. He gave zero care for her. She was gone. All day. I searched the bushes and couldn’t find her. I don’t know what I was going to do if I saw her but possibly point her in the right direction. All I could do is hope she wasn’t killed and that she would find her way back to her place to spin her web again and finish out the last couple weeks of her life. 

So, since I am learning so many lessons from Charlotte imagine my happiness when I saw her this morning. New web built over the one the man destroyed. Back in her place. Doing her thing. 

She got knocked down but got up again and is pressing forward. Same thing we must do. Imagine how disoriented she must have been when she was hit unexpectedly. Just like all of us. There is something inside Charlotte that won’t let her quit. Something that makes her keep going. Just like all of us. We ALL have the ability to dig deep, straighten our backbones and keep moving forward in the face of every obstacle. Charlotte won’t be here forever and neither will we. But she is leaving here having survived challenges and fulfilled her purpose. Just as we should....
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Shawnna's Blog - Sept 30, 2019

I know! You have been wondering what Charlotte has been up to!! She has built a new web today after 18 days with her old one. I stood there amazed as she stretched out one leg as far as she could to delicately grab a fine strand of silk. Once she grabbed it she pulled it to another location to tie it off and start again. She would do the same motion with another leg coming from the opposite direction until that line of web was solid enough for her to walk up to the next level and begin again. This was a slow process and she has spent hours on her new home. 

 I read this: “the life span is about 12 months. They mature in summer, mate, lay their eggs and die in late summer-autumn around the first frost” 

 I am already sad and a bit teary eyed thinking that very, very soon I will arrive at work and Charlotte will be gone. This has been an interesting adventure and has actually taught me several lessons. 

 Life moves forward for all of us. We only have a short span of time to accomplish everything we need/want to do. I guess I see myself in the stage of life Charlotte is in. Still life left but less days than before and still a lot to accomplish. Funny how watching Charlotte has both reminded me and inspired me to fulfill my purpose. She is just a spider doing what she does. She is unconcerned about her surroundings. She is mindful of the task at hand and doesn’t quit until she has done what she intended to do.
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Shawnna's Blog - Sept 19, 2019

Things I have learned watching Charlotte: 

1. At first she spun a new web each morning but she has had this web for a week today. Curious why? She wraps her prey in a silky type of cocoon before she eats it. And she can catch and eat something for sure twice her size. 

2. She is very patient, waiting. Just waiting. She has never panicked and left her web searching. She just waits. Many lessons in that one observance. 

3. She is actually graceful and beautiful. It’s as though she knows she is and in her waiting she enjoys her own company. 

4. She is deliberate. She was deliberate in the location of her web. She was deliberate in the placement of her web. She is deliberate in waiting. 

5. She is intelligent and skillful. It is impossible for me to believe that Charlotte is not intelligent.

Shawnna's Blog - Sept 13, 2019

It doesn’t appear Charlotte has moved since yesterday and her web was certainly the same web (it has been new each morning). I was concerned she went on to her heavenly reward (if spiders have such a thing) so I got really close to her....and she moved the smallest amount almost as though she knew I was concerned and to let me know she is alright. I won’t see her again until Monday...at least I hope I do.

Shawnna's Blog - Sept 12, 2019

Each morning I look at this Charlotte (the name I have given this spider). She is simply fascinating me. This is the first time I have ever been truly amazed by a spider and my first experience with an Orb Weaver. Her web is new and different each morning. I have read that they eat their webs each evening about dusk and make a new one each morning. I think that is accurate based on what I am observing. 

It’s vastly big and extremely intricate in design. If you look close enough you can see all the places she has had to “tie off” to start another loop. Even if you don’t like spiders, you have to admit, this is fascinating. You are free to go on about your day...no bad dreams, no thoughts of creep crawlies!

Shawnna's Blog - Sept 2, 2019

I have never seen a spider like this before. It’s what I imagined Charlotte would have looked like when I was a kid listening to Mrs. Martin read us Charlotte’s Web as we laid down to take our afternoon nap at school.
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