Spiders, Dragonflies, and Otters

I went out back to fill up the birdfeeder this morning, and the lawn was covered with these little webs; it looked like an aerial bombardment of spiders had taken place and all that remained were their little parachutes. As I tried to take the picture, A DF-75 (dragonfly in 75 degree heat) hummed right over my head and made me duck. The whole ordeal was quite treacherous.

If you click on this photo, you can see how pretty the beaded dew looks.

After coming in and properly slapping off my ankles, I searched for spiders on the Internet. I felt like they were crawling all over me with their long legs and their bad intentions. (Though a certain website told me that I'd have to work awfully hard to get bit by this spider--a grass spider.)

In other news, the other day, an otter--yes! a real otter--slipped across the road with a big catfish in its mouth. He appeared to amble, but he made good time, cutting behind my house and disappearing into the woods. I couldn't believe I'd seen him. Up to then, I thought my husband was teasing me, trying to make me jealous with his otter-sightings. Next time, I'll try to have the camera ready.