caught in charlotte's web

When people tell me to slow down to smell the roses, they usually do not have this photograph in mind.

Darrel and Christy have made my life a lot more enjoyable this past month. Starting with my morning walk.

When I walk, I walk for time and distance. I am almost unconscious of the people and scenery I pass. I think it was Charles Emerson Winchester III who said: "I do one thing at a time. I do it well. Then, I move on." He was my kind of character.

Darrel and Christy have a different walking style. They are what I call diversity walkers. They cover a good deal of territory, but they also pay attention to what is going on around them.

The other morning, we took a stroll on the old road heading out of town through country so bucolic you would almost expect to see Aunt Bee and Opie wandering around.

Unlike our summers, the winter months are cool enough that dew forms on almost everything. If I leave my exercise shirt to air in the courtyard, in the morning it is almost as damp as when I took it off.

It also lights up nature. The dew, that is. Not my sweaty shirt.

Without the dewy highlights, we would have walked past this large patch of overgrowth.

Instead, we stopped and waited for the next performance on those obvious fairy rings. Even someone with chronic arachnophobia would have been entranced.

I have only one fear, and it is not of spiders. So, our little discovery was a double treat for me.

And thanks to my brother and sister-in-law, I actually slowed down to witness one of the treats this area of Mexico offers.