I love fresh lettuce, especially the soft, buttery leaves. And summer time is the most wonderful time of the year to find fresh buttery lettuce. I have found several grocery stores and farmers markets that have provided a wealth of rewarding heads of greens recently.
Simply, it has been lovely eating the last few months.
With one exception.
This exception occurred last week as I went to wash and cut a head of red lettuce for dinner. Much to my surprise I saw a green shiny spider crawling along the leaves. "No big deal," I thought to myself. "It's just a sign of how fresh and amazing this lettuce is." Trying to be brave I took a moment to try to determine what to do about the situation...as those of you who know me know, I am anything but fearless when it comes to spiders.
Then I saw spider #2. "Be fearless. Be fearless." I coached myself. "This is a moment to shine, to show that I am not as squeamish about 8-legged bugs as I used to be."
So I acted: I yelled for Luke (who is fearless with spiders--my hero!).
He bravely swooped in and struck down our teeny salad inhabitants, thoroughly washed the lettuce in case any more family members were hiding out and finished dressing it.
He also ate most of the salad that night.
Though he assured me he triple checked for any more spiders, I couldn't mentally get over images of mistakenly eating one or seeing another one crawl on my fork. From the entire experience I resolved to practice bravery the next time I encountered the species.
And it did happen. The encounter came when I was with Tyler which helped a lot (I don't want my son growing up thinking that I won't protect him from these creepy crawlers...even if he does have a fascination with them and is constantly wanting to touch or "play" with anything that wriggles and is not quick enough to crawl away from his little fingers).
Anyways, I was with Tyler and I felt it: a slight tickle on my hand. I looked down and there it was. A monstrous (about the size of a small freckle) looking spider was taking a journey across the landscape of my skin. I jumped, yelped, and before thinking at all squashed it right there on my hand.
Tyler looked at me, a bit startled, but laughing at my random outburst.
"What was that one Mommy?" he asked with his cute, inquisitive look.
"That, was a fierce, icky spider. It was thumping along like a lion in the jungle and I needed to go 'Hiya' like Karate Kid does," I tried not to be over-dramatic but also needed to make sure I didn't minimize this moment. I had squished an enormous (itty bitty) spider without even thinking. My bravery could not be lost for I was not sure if it would ever come again.
Tyler laughed and said, "Do that one again!" And the game of squishing the icky spider on my hand that sounds like a lion in the jungle and provokes a Karate Kid "Hiya!" from me lasted for the next 25 minutes.
I realized at the end of the game that I, amazingly, did feel braver about spiders. It was as if I had transformed into some sort of Spider-hunting Cowgirl. Watch out 8-legged creatures--the karate chopping cowgirl is loose!
It was a bright moment for me as a mother. No teeny-tiny spiders are going to get near my children!
The next night, after feeling a new surge of confidence in this area, I was putting on my boots getting ready to go out to meet some girlfriends. From inside one of them a spider fell out (they are everywhere! ...especially in a house that does not have screens, which is more common than I realized here in York). Initially I felt a surge of panic, but then I remembered my proud moment with Tyler.
So, transforming into the Spider-hunting Cowgirl, I made one very loud thump with my boot and...squished him. Thrilling! I am an extreme pacifist so it feels strange to say killing anything was indeed thrilling, but in this case, it was.
And while I do not expect to turn into a serial spider-killer I am encouraged that if I encountered another spider in a head of lettuce leaves, I might actually be able to handle it myself with bravery.
Unless, of course, the spider is furry, larger than a half dollar or has jumping capabilities...yuck, yuck, yuck...if that is the case, I am SO calling for Cowboy Luke to step in while Cowgirl Jennifer takes a coffee break.
