It's raining again, which probably means there are more mushrooms in our future. I say our future because I can't help but share with you all my mycological finds. Cry uncle if it's too much. In the meantime, recent walks have revealed a frenzy of weaving going on. It's almost as if the spiders are busy luring as many insects as possible so they can chow down and put on some winter weight. Everybody's getting ready for the cold. Their magnificent webs, beaded with dew, glitter in the early morning sunlight. Some creations remind me of those delicate Victorian chain-mail purses; others, more dense and cottony, are like hammocks for fairies, strung between two plant stalks. And if you're lucky enough to find a spider at work, stop and watch. Their skill and dexterity is truly inspiring.

If Charlotte's Web didn't make you fall in love with spiders, please consider that these air-breathing arthropods weave a silk that provides an incomparable combination of lightness, strength and elasticity superior to that of synthetic materials. Scientists are now researching the use of spider venom in medicine and also in non-polluting pesticides. Patient, creative and, yes, perhaps a little cruel, the spider is a mystical creature.