This afternoon, when I paused at the top of the stairs to look out the window into the snowy woods, the sunlight caught a dark speck, seemingly suspended in air, near the corner of the frame. Bending down, I saw it was a spider, no larger than comma in Courier New 12 pt.

Even up close I couldn't make out the web, but I could see the spider had captured something. The victim was at least five times the spider's size, its exact identity obscured by gray mummy wrappings. It looked to me like the spider was victualled until spring.

From time to time, I've spotted spiders in the house and wondered how they survived during the dead of winter. What could be inside to blunder into their webs or cross their paths? I haven't noticed so much as a gnat since late November. Yet, some unfortunate insect had found the spider's trap in the corner of the window.

It's amazing what goes on that we never know about. Even in our own homes, other creatures live out existences which have nothing to do with the human world. They don't give the slightest thought to the mankind's aspirations and failings, our past or our future, or the news headlines on the computer monitor a few feet away.

Somehow, I find the idea comforting.