Autumn has always been my favorite season. I grew up in Northern Michigan where, in September and October, deciduous trees taunt their evergreen kin by flashing costumes of red, orange and gold while the unpretentious conifers patiently wait their turn in the spotlight, when winter lays the backdrop for their own majestic show.

Despite my wistful vivification of the Currier and Ives winterscape of my youth, well, let’s just say it’s a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there. The truth is, the winters are long and hard and I rather enjoy not owning a coat that looks like a retrofit comforter.

Now, in Texas, fall is still my favorite season, but it’s different. I’ve grown accustomed to the fact that, after the pressing heat of summer, I’m looking for my sweater when the temperatures dip into the 70’s. There is even a humble kind of magic to be seen in the way the foliage here turns from green directly to brown, rejecting any temptation to show-off color.

What I especially love about fall and winter in Texas is that they are the perfect seasons for camping, which has become our family’s favorite pastime. Last weekend we drove deep into the Texas Hill country to the Lost Maples State Park. The weather was lovely – comfortably cool at night and warm during the day. We enjoyed hiking and playing in the crystalline streams and watching schools of sunfish navigate the shallows. We marveled at the vastness of the heavens, as well as the number of man-made satellites slicing the night sky.

The Lost Maples State Park website highlights attractions such as the abundance of fall color and wildlife including the rare Green Kingfisher, the endangered Black Capped vireo and Golden-cheeked warbler. However, we didn’t see any of those. We did have a visitor, though, one I don’t remember mentioned in the brochure: a great, hairy tarantula scuttled into our campsite on his way to who knows what engagement. We let him pass, unhindered.

Now, a tarantula is something you don’t find in the wilds of Northern Michigan!

I know this is blasphemy to some ears, but I can’t stand insects. Intellectually, I appreciate their eco-value and for that reason alone I restrain from smashing their creepy-crawly hides to smithereens, but…ew! Everything’s bigger in Texas and its insects are no exception. Since moving here I’ve seen cockroaches the size of a small mouse, grass hoppers that you could walk on a leash, wasps the size of a C-130 cargo plane and scorpions that…well, are just scary enough being scorpions. These are Texas things I would be happy to live without.

But there’s something about a tarantula spider that is just awe inspiring…and a good reminder to pull your shoes inside the tent at night.

Tarantula Spider
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Theraphosida, but mine was screamin’ louder than a playground full of school girls.

And that, boys and girls, is the real truth.