Those are the ones I call daddy long legs and that I decided were friendly, as spiders go, when I was a little girl.
I am unquestionably skewing Ryan's knowledge base, but he too thinks of daddy long-legs as "the friendly spiders", because of their habit of eating more dangerous spiders. (Still and so, I don't fancy their chances against a funnelweb.)
Learning which animals are dangerous must be really easy in Australia. Just memorize the list of safe animals, sheep, and you know the rest are trying to kill you.
Gud needs a Like button.
Though sheep can be mean.
Edit: "Australia: Yes, it's trying to kill you."
Good on you for seeing your friend through that awful experience, JZ. I'm sure you were a huge comfort to her.
Oh JZ. You were wonderful to stay and you have the bestest heart.
I'm still in SLC and we had the good, the bad, and the ugly in the office today. The good - free lunch! The bad (ok, not bad-bad, but a set-up bad for the ugly) - it was a chili cookoff. The ugly - too many beans...
Another hour in the office and then I head off to the airport. Hopefully flights are on time and easy.
That was so good of you, JZ.
Learning which animals are dangerous must be really easy in Australia. Just memorize the list of safe animals, sheep, and you know the rest are trying to kill you.
And yet, our life expectancy is four years longer than America's. You might ascribe that to diet, or lifestyle, or better access to health care; but the truth is that we are just that bad-ass.
Just had a brief but cathartic phone call with a faraway mutual friend who has been a part of his tightest inner circle for years--she's utterly wrecked and feels all the worse for being at the other end of the continent and totally unable to fly out for any memorials, and some of the extravagantly sorrowing FB posts by people who barely knew him (many of whom didn't even like him much when he was alive) were starting to make her just the smallest bit throatpunchy (a lot of them are marvelous and revelatory, but a couple are walking the line toward what Addams Family Values has taught me to think of as What About Debbie). It was oddly comforting to let her vent a bit and then cry together about him and his daughter.
Oh, that's so hard, JZ. I'll always remember sitting in the hospital with my grandmother the day she died, and it was kind of great, but she was 94, and had been more or less fine the day before. I can't even imagine.
Timelies all!
Congrats to Juliana and family!
{{{JZ}}}