In Focus

The Halloween Light Show is up and running...finally. Thanks to the rain, I was behind on getting everything plugged in.

On Wednesday there was a power outage in Hewitt that was supposed to last for a few hours, so I took the opportunity to get the props plugged in. I got a pretty good chunk of it done, but not all of it. I got a few more things done the following night before it got too dark, and finally on Saturday the rest of the decorations were plugged in, inflatables were put out and the yard was finished and ready for the show to start on Sunday.

Talk about cutting it close...it was definitely the closest to show time I have ever gotten.

I changed the layout again, because I get bored seeing the same thing all the time. I added a few new things, touched up and painted some others. One of these items were misters that you put in water to give it a foggy look with color changing lights. That also meant I had to clean out the fountain. What I should have done is rinsed it off outside before bringing it inside to scrub it down. But I didn’t. I got the thing in the bathtub and used the shower head to rinse it off before scrubbing it.

Oh, the spiders that magically appeared were terrifying. I didn’t realize how many spider webs were on this thing. I even found egg sacks under the rim. And when I thought I had them all gone, the scrubbing began. There’s a bucket, and lily pads where the water runs down. After another good rinse, a black widow appeared. For the love of God I didn’t need that thing in my house. I’m still not 100 percent sure I got it.

But the battle raged on and I filled the bucket with hot soapy water and vinegar to clean out the pump and the hose. I turned the pump on and let it run for about an hour. When I came back, everything looked fine. I pulled the pump out and dumped the bucket.

What I saw gave me the chills. Several spiders were dead, floating in the water, including some of the big wolf spiders. I was freaked out because I just had my hand in the water, and WHERE WERE THEY HIDING? I scrubbed every inch of that thing and saw no sign of them. I was so paranoid in the bathroom the rest of the day wondering if there were other spiders that survived.

And I had to take the fountain back outside. I was so paranoid about touching it—even with gloves.

The fountain made it back outside and I filled it with water and placed the misters in it. It looked so cool. But when I checked on it that night, the water was almost gone. It previously had a crack that we filled, but the vinegar water must have been too harsh for it. So, the next day I put a plastic liner in it and now it seems to be holding up just fine.

The pump is working, the misters are working, and I really don’t want to touch that thing anytime soon. I ended up deep cleaning the bathroom because of my paranoia. So many spiders, so little nerve.

Anyway, stop by and enjoy the show and the “anxiety-filled” water fountain under the tree.