The Neighbourhood Old-Timers, Part 2 - Small Problems 1

One of the weirdest problems was a spider
infestestation. In NH we have something called
wolf spiders. Just our luck, that's the kind that
took over the house while nobody lived in it. They
don't weave webs, they tackle their prey - so they
aren't afraid of anything, including humans. They
ARE pretty quick. And when you try to squish 'em,
they rear up to defend themselves. Unfortunately, my
wife is allergic to bee venom (and spider venom is basically
the same thing). One of them got her, and she swelled
up like a balloon. She lost feeling on one side
of her face, in one of her hands . . . it was bad. We ended up
at the hospital half the night.

Now we're more vigilant about keeping
her epipen prescription up-to-date. And I'm more vigilant
about spraying the perimeter of the foundation from
spring through fall to keep the spiders out. Who knows
what THAT'S doing to us . . . ! It's got to be bad stuff if
they won't walk across it.