We will be revisiting some of our favorite posts from time to time here on ViewFinders.  We originally shared this post by Lucy Loomis in October of 2015.

Foggy mornings beckon me.  Some people get up at the crack of dawn to capture the glory of sunrise, but I much prefer the muffled world of a morning wrapped in fog.

On this morning walk I came upon a field of fading queen anne’s lace and milkweed going to seed. Hanging from every dried seedhead and stalk were waterdrops.

And studded throughout the field among the stalks were dozens of perfect, circular spider’s webs outlined in pearl-like strings.

In sunny weather these webs would be hidden in the grass, the spiders quietly spinning away undisturbed.

But the fog had magically illuminated them for me.  I slogged through dripping grasses, weeds, flower stalks, and briars to capture these amazing artists at their work.  It was like a gallery of webs exhibited just for me.

In 1929, long before he wrote his classic children’s book Charlotte’s Web, E. B. White penned this love letter to his wife, invoking the spiderweb imagery.

The Spider’s Web ( A Natural History)
The spider, dropping down from twig,
Unfolds a plan of her devising,
A thin premeditated rig
To use in rising.

And all that journey down through space,
In cool descent and loyal hearted,
She spins a ladder to the place
From where she started.

Thus I, gone forth as spiders do
In spider’s web a truth discerning,
Attach one silken thread to you
For my returning.

So go forth today, as spiders do, and create some artistry of your own.

—lucy