A spider woke me at 4.30 am or thereabouts. It was a large Shropshire spider, or rather, it is a large spider as it's still around somewhere, lurking.
I know it is a spider because when I turned on the light (clipped to my bookcase as my floating bedside shelf isn't really up to the job) it was hanging from a thread, abseiling onto my face. That's what woke me - the light brushing of its feet on my cheek as it tried to find purchase.
I am not afraid of spiders, but this one was a surprise too far and I swore and batted it away, and woke up much more completely than I wanted to and thought of Robert the Bruce. I then thought of Alfred burning the cakes and wondered whether there was a new link to be made between Bruce's spider and Alfred's cakes.
In an effort to get back to sleep I turned on the radio. The presenter was thanking Joan for phoning in to comment on the lunar eclipse. All thoughts of sleep exited stage right, and I leapt out of bed.
At the time of the solar eclipse earlier this year I was about to go out and have a Health and Safety approved look at the sun, when the phone rang. It was Gary, from North Wales Police. By the time we'd finished discussing some rather interesting points about Wrexham's status as a Dispersal Centre, I'd missed the entire celestial drama, so I've had eclipses somewhere in the back of my mind ever since.
I unlocked the back door and went out into the garden. The grass was wet under my feet. Beyond the washing line, the moon was full save for a bite out of its bottom right hand corner. I just made it in time.
These portents, coming so close together, can only mean one thing. Term starts in full today, and it's going to be a good one.
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