Late April gardening tasks in the early morning unfold and time slips by. I opened one of the windows of my cold frame to place a starter box with basil seeds. I caught sight of a fuzzy mass of activity in a corner and knelt down for a close look. I was witnessing tiny one- half millimeter brand new spiderlets. Some clung to a tangle of strands in a cluster, some fell on silk threads, most of the two hundred were suspended in a maze of strands. A few were heading away from the rest crawling on strands. I searched for the silken ball where the eggs were laid. After a while, the ones that were crawling away headed back to the others. I could just see theiir forelegs move.

What would become of these tiny creatures? How can they nourish those tiny muscles inside their legs and body? What will they eat?  They hatch and instantly are on their own. I left this small event feeling honored that I had the chance to watch a tiny bit of nature unfold. Two hundred  potentialnew spiders for my garden. There might be hundreds of new webs, and eventually thousands of more spiders.

While I watched, carpenter bees buzzed above my head. Today seems to be a catchup day for nature. The temperature has reached the mid-sixties, just right for spiders to hatch, blossoms of a tulip tree start to push out.

I spray my seedlings in the cold frame and see other changes as well. The tomato seeds I’ve been watching for three weeks are up. The swiss chard seedlings have also sprung. It’s a thrill for me to be present for new signs of life. The spider hatching looked like a star cluster. The spiders reminded me of a beautiful astronomical structure…a cluster of stars billions of light years away.

I wonder how many of those baby spiders will reach adulthood. There are a pair of Carolina wrens nesting nearby.  They may eat some, but I’m sure, some of “my” spiders will follow their life cycle to completion. I leave them with several unanswered questions. For this I am grateful. A small door of beauty opened for me and behind it, a huge cathedral of mystery.