Brush with Death (kinda)

This evening I had a close encounter with one Altadena's more unpopular creepy crawlies-the black widow spider. They're all over up here, so one must take care thrusting a hand into dark corners. However, I didn't expect to see one crawl out from under my fingers as I turned the door knob to the front gate this evening. At first I thought I'd imagined the thing skittering away since it was dark. But a set of long, knobby-kneed legs were visible from around the back side of the knob suggested otherwise. Closer inspection confirmed that indeed, there was a huge black widow spider a hairs breath away from where I'd just grabbed the handle. The spider seems to have settled there because it was in the same spot an hour later when I grab this candid photo. Its was taken with the point and shoot, so its not the most clear. Perhaps that's for the best though.