We're down in Belton for the 4th having lots of fun. We saw the parade this morning, played Mom's patented "4th of July Olympics" which some of you have been a part of in past years. Stupid Zack won, and I got the silver. (Zack is Andrew's wife's sister's husband, or in other words...a jerk.) Anyway, my point is not to tell you about normal 4th of July activities. I read Peter's tales of wonder about license plates and wildfires in California. Be not impressed by these things. Instead listen to my tale of wonder. We got to Belton thursday evening, and Dad says to me, "Hey, tomorrow you've got to help me catch some tarantulas." I laughed, and assumed he meant there was a big spider somewhere. He took me outside in the dark to show me where they were. He starts pointing out these holes...LARGE HOLES. In each hole is a huge spider -- about 4 to 5 inches in diameter -- poised to strike anything that comes within range of the hole. I'm freaking out, because there's plenty of ground NOT being lit by the flashlight. It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. The next morning (today the 4th) before the parade, we went out armed with a trashcan, a shovel, a watering pitcher, a broom, and several disposable tupperware containers. Our plan worked pretty well until it came to the trashcan, which tarantulas have no trouble climbing, so getting them into the tupperware proved difficult. They also can climb brooms. Anyway, to make a long story slightly shorter, we caught three of them. I'll have pictures after we get back to Austin. I have only seen one other tarantula in the wild in my whole life, and to see 6 all in one yard was quite an experience. There's still a few out there, including one that has a sneaky system of tunnels under the sidwalk where we can't get to him. Anyway, hope everyone had a great 4th of July. We've got a mountain of fireworks to shoot off this evening.