One day last week, I was minding my own business, enjoying a pleasant October evening outdoors when, in my peripheral vision, I suddenly became aware of an unwelcome “visitor.” I was not alone on that park bench.

A spider surely the size of Cleveland was descending from the top right portion of my hat.

I quickly took the hat off and gave it a strong shake as I threw it on the ground, being careful not to inadvertently fling it onto myself. I gave a careful visual inspection to the top of the hat to see if the spider remained.

Unconvinced, I picked the hat up and threw it on the ground with great force several times. There was no room for error in this endeavor.

Just at that moment, a man exiting the event I was attending came by and observed what was undoubtedly to him a strange occurrence. With a laugh, he asked if I was doing a “stomp dance.” Closely following, a woman also exiting said, “You know, if you weren’t wearing that hat, you’d just have a spider in your hair.” Grim thought.

I was not yet ready to leave the event, and neither was I in a good position to return to my car. I certainly wasn’t going to wear the hat anymore that night, so I decided to hang it off the arm rest of the bench and make sure to check it carefully before departing.

Around 20 minutes later, I was ready to go to a different area of the event, and, upon moving to retrieve my hat, I discovered an unapproved occupant adorning the top of the brim. It was, in fact, the very same spider (or perhaps one of his undoubtedly many cousins). I held the hat carefully and contemplated my options, choosing to try offloading the little stowaway onto a nearby bush.

Eventually, Sir Spider and I parted ways. I gave my hat one last lookover under a stronger light and continued with the rest of my night. When it was time to leave, I quarantined the hat on the back seat of my car for good measure.

A spooky spider brought a fright on a cool fall night, and I lived to tell the tale.

For any spider aficionados out there, rest assured the spider survived this encounter. According to an Oct. 18, 2022, article from Southern Pest Control entitled “The Many Benefits of Spiders,” spider positives include eating flies and cockroaches and controlling other undesirable insects, as well as helping to aerate the soil which enriches it with vital nutrients.