herb_mania Thank you. Gotta give my little camera the credit, though. I just put it in the close-up mode, moved in close and tried to get Mr. DLL in the center, and snapped. Those legs are awfully long, aren't they? And I also discovered that there are TWO insects given the name, Daddy Long Legs. When people popularly differentiate them, one is called the Daddy Long Legs Sspider, and the other one called the Harvestman. This picture is listed as a , but it has a relatively long jointed body. This one is called a Harvestman, and doesn't have a segmented body but is roly-poly. It looks more like that's the one I photographed on my zucchini. They both have long delicate-looking legs. so that must be the reason they carry the same name.

Arachnids are a way of life on the desert where everything seems to bite you, sting you, stick you or rub off onto you with some level of toxicity. Tarantulas are a common sight in your yard and even walking down the middle of the street in the city, especially in the fall when males are looking for a little love. Without a monthly visit from the bug man there is nary a place that is not soon infested with black widows, brown recluse and wolf spiders that have a good start on getting as big as the tarantulaÂs. Then there are the ticks and scorpions. WeÂre even lucky enough to have the bark scorpion here, the only one in NA deemed dangerous to man (I got stung by one 30 years ago, bad, very bad). One difference here though here they tend to live inside your homes as much as outside it. This bungalow I live in now has more inside residents than outside I think, more than anyplace else IÂve ever lived on the desert. ItÂs to the point that I shake clothes and dump out my shoes before I put them on same as youÂd do on a desert camping trip. But, if you are going to live on the desert, you soon learn to accept all of these along with the rattlesnakes and some fairly nasty plants as just disinterested neighbors and pretty much ignore them. That is, if theyÂll let you. A few nights ago I was sitting in the recliner watching TV in the wee hours when something crawled across my bare chest in the dark. I swatted it to the floor, got up and turned a light on to see what it was. ItÂs the right size and color to be a bark scorpion, but I didnÂt bother to hunt for my keys to key it out to be certain. I would have simply took it outside and turned it loose, but I had hit it hard enough to kill it. About the 7th or 8th one in three months inside this place, and there has been a bunch of wolf and a couple of recluse spiders IÂve had to show the door. No black widows inside yet, but when the rains startÂ

Remember that these creatures are scavengers. Opportunist is probably a better word than predator (however), which insinuates that stalking and hunting are their main job. They would certainly take advantage of small caterpillars and eggs, if given the opportunity. I'd consider them beneficial, unless I noticed a bunch of them hanging around a butterfly nursery. I've never had any inside my house, which I am glad about. I confess that they give me the willies!

Stand in the shower or tub as if you were using it. Put your hand against the wall as if to steady yourself. That's where you need a bar. We have gotten so used to having one there in ours, that we feel very awkward taking a shower in a hotel bath. It's just great for unsteady feet. When one of us can no longer use the shower and have to take tub baths, we'll get one of those bath chair things. But for now, it works well. Hope you get to your gardening soon. I know it means a lot to you.