My son takes me outside to show me something very cool…

At the bottom of our driveway is a spider web. Up at the level of the transformer on the electric pole opposite, it spans across the entire street and is probably 5 or 6 feet tall. It’s a real beauty. And in the center is a large garden orb.

We both stand and stare at the magnificent creation. I am thinking the spider must be very lonely. Here she is – a BBW (Well, BBS… BBWS?) in an enormous beautiful house all by herself. No egg sac, no little man-spider to share it with. I feel for her.

My son is thinking differently.

“So, Ma, if i start acting weird, you know why…”

I’m thinking he means if he gets the willies.

“…I was walking to the bus stop and the spider dropped down and bit me and i turned into Spiderman.”

“But, ” i say to my son, “That could be kind of cool!” I start doing my best Spiderman impression. Hopping around the street in a bad interpretive dance, pointing my wrist at things and making noises formerly only seen on the 1960s Batman TV show. Pow! Spoing! Fwoosh!

I’m sure the reclusive spider diva was amused.

My son, however, was taking this very seriously.

“Ma, that is not a good thing! He is filled with teenage angst! And he accidentally killed his girlfriend with radioactivity!”

I stand corrected.

Well, not really. I’m still doing my Spiderman dance.

When i am done with my Tony award-winning performance, we both settle under the web and tilt our heads back. Standing right under it, we can see the huge expanse of it as it billows in the breeze.

“It really is extraordinary, ” I say.

“Yea,” He responds. “It really is. I mean, how did it manage to jump and get the silk from the transformer all the way to the tree on the other side? That’s a big jump for something so small.”

We stare in silence and appreciation for a few minutes.

“Well, goodnight, beautiful woman.”

“Yes,” says my son, “See you in the morning…”

I wonder if he’ll be infected with angst this afternoon? And what will his Spiderman dance look like?