I have often sat and watched a web being constructed. The spider has a lot more patience than me, because I stop to watch him when he is halfway through and am likely to leave before he has finished. Mr Spider is a very methodical and tidy character. He does not zigzag randomly and create a mess. He goes in circles and spirals, and keeps going until the web is either the right size or he gets to the middle. People sometimes describe handwriting looking "as if a spider had crawled all over the page" but this is rather an insult to our industrious little friend. The only time spidery writing is an advantage is when the shorthand writer * is endeavouring to maintain a very light touch with the pen. The pressure should be as light as possible, with no more than the minimum extra pressure necessary to get the thick strokes. It is better to think of thin and thick strokes, or light and lighter ones, rather than light and heavy strokes.
Now that autumn is here, my garden is full of webs strung between the branches of the shrubs and across the paths. For the past several weeks * I have been getting entangled in seemingly extra-toughened web filaments, as I attempt to get to the end of the garden path. It is better in the early morning as the webs are wet with mist or dew, and I can see where they are more easily. If the web looks new I don’t really want to destroy Mr Spider’s laborious construction before he has got a meal out of all his efforts. Sometimes I can lift half of it sideways and drape it onto a nearby twig out of the way, and quite often the occupant carries on with the web in its new position. If it is * old and holey, I don’t mind breaking it because I know it has done its job and has been abandoned. Sometimes I make a detour or duck under, often only to meet another web barring my progress. In earlier years this obstacle cou...