Is That a Spider?

Those of us who have lived here, know that spiders are omnipresent – outside, but also inside the house. We continuously try to keep nature in it’s place – outside, but it keeps on creeping back.. on eight legs. This one i found in the garden between a couple tomato plants. It’s huge! And scared me for a moment! A large spider has to be dangerous, i figured. Not true, though. Although, this impression is quite intended, as you might guess. The spider goes by the innocuous sounding name Yellow Garden Spider or Argiope aurantia. For those of you with spider phobias (you don’t want to live here!) and please know that spiders don’t come to bite you in your sleep! So, if you have some red marks or bumps on your skin: you have them from mosquitos or maybe a plant, but not from a spider!