I love watching birds. This weekend we’re hoping the snow geese have gathered at their traditional place in Vermont- the Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area (new link: May 2015) – because it’s the only weekend I have free.

But it’s spiders that have crept regularly into my choral music. First Weaving the World, with text by Janisse Ray… “Each night spiders weave the world back together” In my latest piece The Future of Life, spiders ride the wind to Hawaii.

It’s hard to suppress the feeling of repulsion when I see a big spider. I guess it’s because I just don’t know if they’re a biting kind, and it’s gross to get webs all over my face when I walk in the woods. But if I stand back and just look at them, they and their dew-covered webs are dramatically beautiful.