The Tarantula Story...

I often at a loss for what to write about here... How many times can I write about health issues and still expect to have any readers???

A few posts ago, I used a 'Meme' and highlighted the entry 'Touched a tarantula'. Wenda wanted to know more. So here is the story:

The story behind how I touched a tarantula:

My husband is a career Navy man. One of his tours of duty was at the Naval Base on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (1967-71). Although I had to wait for six months to join him (had to wait for housing to open up), it was the best duty station we were ever at! Dale was attached to the Base Police force, and was home every night, unlike his tours on ships that went to sea for up to 6 months at a time!

Anyway, I was able to teach second grade at the Department of Defense School on the Base. 90% of my students had parents in the Navy or Marines. Each year I had a few Cuban children whose parents were living on the Base as political refugees from Castro. I LOVED it! Tropical weather all year long and I was doing what I loved, teaching!

We had 'Show-and-Tell' at the end of each day. One student's father was growing some banana trees, and they found a tarantula in one bunch of bananas. The little boy brought it to school in a jar with a lid on. There were holes in the lid. (Can you see where this is going?) When it was his turn to 'show and tell', he marched up to the front of the room, quickly took the lid off, reached in for the furry bugger, and handed it to me! I was young and brave in those days, so I held out my hand. Believe me, when he dropped the DEAD spider onto my hand, I swear I gave an audible sigh of relief!!! As a class project, I had my students study all about tarantulas for the next few days. (my second graders were all reading on a fifth grade level!!!!!)

Well, that's my story.