My earliest interaction with a tarantula was in high school.

My friend Michael Miller, who is now his honor, the Mayor of Wagener SC had one and was showing it to me as he described some of the animal's behaviors.

He said that you could tell when the spider was contemplating a strike because it would stroke it's abdomen with it's hind legs.

Back then I was fascinated. I'm afraid all of that passed over the years. While I'm certainly not against any arachnid I don't feel the warm and fuzzies I once did for them. I am sorry to say I never took the plunge of tarantula ownership, either. They are large, furry, and imposing animals to the uninitiated.

I suppose the realities of work and career rather obscured them in the context of my activities of daily living. Things I once thought to be of paramount importance pale by comparison these days ...

Something about that pay check rolling in every month makes you rather callous to all those discarded heartstrings from the past.

Today is National Tarantula Appreciation Day. It is held each August 8 annually and appears to be a vehicle to promote the fact that despite their appearance they are not actually scary animals at all.

Anyway, I have no desire to go into the references of them throught antiquity only to say that it remains my policy to live and let live. This goes for the tarantula as well. If I see one I will simply let it be. Not likely where I live, however.
 

My status as Navy brat has afforded me a glimpse into a lighthouse or two.

I had an interest in the lighthouse as an art form early in my career but declined to pursue this aspect for other pressing duties — though it passed through my thoughts frequently for a while.

I recall most fondly Chatham Light near Sandwich on Cape Cod because I spent an enjoyable time there touring with my friend and compadre the late Jerry Landry.

Ah, the memories. It seems that lighthouses in general are more of an art form in the Northeast than they are in the Southeast.

I spent some time around the Morris Island Lighthouse when I was a younger man living in Charleston due to my affinity for the coastal waters of the area..

Today is National Lighthouse Day.

In 1789, the Congress passed an act securing the protection of all lighthouses under federal support.

It's a good thing too lest these momentous icons of history pass by the wayside.

The scenic nature of lighthouses will ensure they are an attraction for anyone who happens by them in passing.

This still happens during my forays up the coast periodically. I see fewer of them when I travel down the coast. Also, my traveling days are very much diminished from my Americana heyday way back when.

The dark and stormy nights accompanying heavy seas are why they were implemented.