Saturday, July 5, 2025

Lots more one Edgar and Friends!

Welcome, I’m Mary Louisa Locke, the author of the USA Today best-selling Victorian San Francisco Mystery series and the Caelestis Science Fiction series. In this daily newsletter, I reflect on my life as an indie author trying to age gracefully. Occasionally, I will also publish some of my shorter fiction in this newsletter to read for free.

Daily Diary, Day 1767:

Edgar and friends: About an hour after I posted yesterday, I went into the bathroom and Edgar had disappeared again. From the ceiling! The walls, ceiling, and countertops of this very small downstairs bathroom are all white, so it should have been easy to spot him if he was on any of these surfaces. Throughout the rest of the day I examined every wall, the ceiling, behind the toilet, the white baseboards, behind everything on the counter top. No Edgar. The floor is dark, scuffed hardwood, and the wood of the vanity is dark as well. So if he had dropped straight down from the ceiling, he could have gotten to where ever he normally goes (underneath the baseboards?) or I suppose he could be hiding under the vanity cabinet!

But his morning, Edgar, was back. When initially found, he was again to the left of the magazine rack. But I noticed he must have had an anchor line to the actual door, because every time I came in (I was dust mopping carefully to avoid him) he would sort of swing and madly try to throw out anchor lines. So, I decided to run something along the side of the door to encourage him to anchor to something else.

Well, he was not happy, swung quickly to the magazine rack, and froze. I found myself sitting there watching, to see if he would start to rebuild, but then I noticed what I thought was some fluff caught in Edgars web, but it was moving and as I got closer it appeared to be a very very tiny spider spinning a web where Edgat had been. I can’t even tell if it is a Daddy Long Legs, since it is sort of translucent—and legs a blur of activity.

I went away to tell my husband what was going on, and when I came back, Edgar had unfrozen, made his way over to the right side of the magazine rack, where the small Daddy Long Legs had been for several days, and that small one…I think I will call Junior, was down by the baseboard quickly moving along—I assume to get away from Edgar.

After writing the above paragraph I went back, and Junior was now apparently trying to make a web between the wall and the handle of the toilet bowl brush. Boy they can move fast if they want to. So, as of now (and I need to go on my walk.) We have 4 spiders in the bathroom. Miss Teeny up in her corner on the sink side, the spider I am now calling Miss Speedy on the left and Edgar on the right of the magazine rack, and Junior hopefully setting himself up safely near the toilet.

I feel as if I am now in the middle of a mini-soap opera, As the Web Turns.

Thursday and Friday were pretty much routine for me. Up early, cleaning, publishing newsletter, getting in my two walks. For Thursday there was the noon zoom meeting and phone meeting, for Friday a scheduled phone meeting. A little journaling both days, and working on editing and a little writing on the novella.

I got some new very light, thin cotton pants for walking, now that it is getting hotter. I love that they have cuffs (ie narrow band) at the bottom of legs, so that the fact that they are large and therefore more comfy, means they don’t drag on the ground. And best of all they have pockets to put my keys and phone in!! I got a pair of black, wore all Friday, and have ordered more in different colors. They are very inexpensive, so may not last long, but I am very chuffed to have found them, because the sweat pants I usually wear (with cuffs and pockets) are quite thick…and have been quite nice during winter and spring’s cool mornings, but not now in the summer. I probably should have reserved this for Sunday’s moment of delight because they are certainly making me happy!

And final bit of nature. A flower, a bunny rabbit yesterday, and that neighbor with the feud with crows…there were over 14 on the wire a couple houses down from him this morning! Not sure if you can see all of them, but they were certainly keeping an eye on everything!

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