Seeing the almost invisible

"Some pig" Charlotte's Web, E.B. White

When I was about 10, my parents decided to hire someone to change the wallpaper in my room. One day when I came home from school, I discovered that most of the paper was stripped but the person doing the work drew my attention to one remaining shred of wallpaper still on the wall. In a dark corner behind the door, there was a small square of wallpaper upon which there was a tiny message. "This is my favourite room ever." It was signed by the little girl who had had the room before me. This hitherto invisible message briefly had light shone on it to be read. In return, I left a similar message for whoever came after me.

I don't know if it is just my eyes or the season or all the walking I've been doing lately but there are spider webs everywhere I look. I think perhaps I have just decided to see them. They are so hard to capture with a camera because they need a dark enough background and light hitting them just the right way to be visible. I have taken dozens of pictures of them in the past couple of months and only one looks like a picture of a spider web. I think this makes them extra special. Catching a glimpse of one shimmering ever so slightly in the morning light is much like uncovering an invisible message in a place that you have never thought to look.

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Growing Versions

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