Before Enlightenment, the Laundry (& a Tarantula)

August 26th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »

My teens offer countless opportunities (sometimes seen as challenges) to enter doorways of wonder, education, magic and even enlightenment. One of their doorways is to the world of pets. Currently, we have 8 of them. The order goes like this: 2 dogs (Liam, a collie and Archie, a Bichon Frise), 2 black cats (Suzy and Frodo), 2 horses (Max and Chance) and a betta fish (Han Solo … he swims alone). Our most recent addition to the pet menagerie is a Chilean rose-haired tarantula named Petrucchio (after a character in Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew). This latest acquisition occurred while I was out of town, of course.

Once you get past the initial visual creepiness, you find that tarantulas are pretty cool. Petrucchio has a beautiful red coat and is incredibly docile while held (yes, we’ve all held him). His maintenance has been minimal – just have to throw in crickets a few times a month and mist him once in a while. He lives in a little aquarium nestled in a corner of the laundry room on the counter where we fold the clothes. With all that said … the fact of the matter is, there’s a tarantula in the house!

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