A gentle breeze carried the shiny-black wonder in a circle-like pattern.  Around and around she went with nary a move, nary a twitch.  Creepy, actually.  Strange...to say the least.  Sunbathing in the breeze?  Looking nonchalant so as to surprise her prey with a sudden deadly move'?  My shutter flew with excitement; the perfect hourglass appearing every few seconds with black legs stretched out long and graceful.  Every angle I could possibly imagine--she and the wind accommodated me.  And then, when far too much time had passed without a change in pose, we realized she was not of this world.  Dead.  She had gone off to, um, widower's heaven?

I love these "girls"...these wicked, venomous black spiders.  I've read that they eat their mates...and that suits me just fine.  Not that I'd want to devour mine, mind you. Just that thought it a cool fact of nature.  But then, I also read that it's either not true, or only partially true.  Sometimes they eat their hubbies?  Sometimes they don't? Perhaps widows who eat their mates practice some kind of devil worship or cannibalism?  Birth control?  Could the non-mate-eating ones may be practicing Catholics or Mormons?  Who knows?  "Who cares?" you may be muttering.  Nevertheless, here are a couple of mug shots of my deceased gal (the bottom two), and a couple of her widower? friends she used to hang out with: