I am not proud of this, but I am scared of spiders. Not terrified, just scared. I don’t like that they can run like hell and then squeeze into the smallest space imaginable. It troubles me that they play dead. Seems to be an unfair advantage. But, I try to avoid killing them (even though my first impulse is to do so) because I know they are forces of good and are part of the increasingly delicate balance out there. But, give me a spider web and I am instantly their biggest fan. I keep meaning to photograph the webs that appear daily in between the rungs on our deck, but never quite get around to it. It was very foggy last night and Chris starting taking pictures of them with his iPhone. He showed me the absolutely stunning results and I immediately asked him if I could post them. He suggested I take some of my own. Anyway, these are my photos, but his lovely idea.

This lovely box resides at the local post office up here in Callicoon. Note the combination of serif and sans serif type!! I’m now going to see if there are more of these located in the various branches of the P.O. around and about Sullivan County.

Some folks save postcards. Many keep a diary. And yet others save hotel soap. Found at Tin Can Trading Post, one of my favorite thrift/antique shops in Callicoon. The proprietor, Sal Siggia, kindly let me borrow these. I find it so charming that whoever saved these, decided to write on the back of several of the soaps so that they would remember where they were from.

It’s not at all an overstatement to say that great inspiration is to be found in a hardware store. Case in point: this sensational Monarch Furnace Nozzle display. I’ve been admiring this thing for months, if not longer. And the very kind peeps over at Callicoon Supply took the time to remove it from the shelf when asked if I could photograph it. Although there were a couple of raised eyebrows and a mild amount of teasing (Joanne and Howard!). However, I felt vindicated when a customer saw what I was doing and said that he was surprised at how one could see something forever, and yet not really look at it or appreciate it until someone else took the time to view it differently.

A collection of hard working knives owned by our friends Mark and Wendy, both of whom are outstanding cooks. These are the same people who own these brushes. The variation in the size and shape of the blades and handles is, of course, what makes these so remarkable. The fact that they are all razor sharp, and feel good to hold, makes them sublime.