This chair is occupied

James warned me the other night. But I forgot. "There's a spider web all over one of the rocking chairs on the porch," he told me. What did Sheryl do later? Of course! She plunked down in the chair and completely messed up the spider's web. I felt really bad. But the spider didn't seem to mind. She repaired her web and is still occupying the rocking chair. To help her out, I made an "Occupied" sign. 

For fun, in the evenings I sit in the adjoining chair, swat at mosquitos on my legs and drop them in her web. Now you know how REALLY weird I am. LOL! 

By the way, our spider is a small orbweaver, Metepeira sp. These are really cool because they make a funnel-shaped orb web with a retreat/nest at the narrow mouth. Per Bugguide.net: The messy tangle of threads behind the orb web is called a barrier web, which is where she builds her retreat. She rests one leg on the adjoining line so she can, I assume, feel vibrations from a victim tangled in her web. I met my first one in April 2019. This is my third Metepeira friend.