We took our dogs for a hike this morning. It was cool and a bit foggy. Very soon after walking through our rear gate, I spotted this small spider web. Even though only about two  inches long, it was easy to see because of the dew drops glistening on it.

There were several in the area. I liked this one the best, although it wasn’t the largest one, because it was nestled against a small stone.

Dew-covered spider web and small stone

Continuing our hike, I kept seeing more of the dewy webs. The conditions were just right this morning for them to capture the dew. This next one caught my eye because of the interesting arrangement between two rocks and the small oak sapling.

Dew-covered spider web and oak sapling

I’m not sure what kind of spider made them. They remind me of funnel-web spider webs, but they lack a distinct funnel.

We must have seen dozens of them. I’ve noticed many of my hikes have a theme, in this case the dew and spider webs, even though I didn’t plan that ahead of time. It’s a zen-like, serendipitous happening. I just start walking and see what I see.

I think it might actually be a form of imprinting. That’s the effect when young birds imprint the first moving thing they see as their parent. My guess is that the first interesting thing I see on the hike primes my mind to see others like it. Who knows exactly what it is or even if I’m just imagining the effect. I’ll take it.