It sat dangling there, it’s hues of green and red an orchestra of color, twinkling in the sun. But underneath the festive colors lays an efficient killing machine, set on one, and only one, objective: finding food for its newly hatched children. The spider was gargantuan, about the size of my hand, with many tiny baby-spiders on its back. The sublimity of it all comes crashing into me like a wave, and for a moment I’m stunned. As suddenly, as the feeling came, it is shattered into small jagged fragments by the revving of a boat out on the water to my right. I realize that there are so many small things in life that we may walk right by, we are capable of such awareness and such great observations, but also such great ignorance.

When this moment hit me, I was on the final leg of a hike through the verdant Jupiter Island preserve, surrounded and ultimately immersed in the thick jungle that inhabits Jupiter Island. I had been seeing the spiders since we had set out, their crystalline webs dominate the tree filled environment, posing an impending obstacle for any insects. As impressive as the webs were, I was enamored by the trees, which formed dark tunnels that wound along the path we were following. I can still remember how the light filtered down and created a twinkling light on the spongy, leaf covered ground. Unfortunately, to our right was the inter-coastal, home to noisy boaters, and on the far side, a small industrial area, with buildings and businesses. At first I was mad at the people in the town for ruining the serenity of the preserve. But then stronger emotions boiled up, pity and sadness. I’m sad that these people haven’t seen this fantastical landscape I have seen. I pity them for their ignorance; they are barely a half mile away from the preserve and I doubt they even know of it.

I really saw how much people can miss if they don’t look, how much is unseen and how clumsy we are. I witnessed an entire ecosystem working in perfect harmony, and then saw how we can take over and dominate a huge piece of land, killing everything that used to live there. We are capable of such beautiful things, such great works of art, and such ignorance.