A Spider Web Farm
Spider Farm Road off US 14.
Williamstown, VT
August 3rd, 1999
We 
get
to see a lot of stuff along the road as we travel across this
great land and Laura has often said we should do a story on the
unusual road signs we see. I thought we had seen just about every
"xing" sign there could possibly be, until we came to
the end of Spider Web Farm Road, and met possibly the oldest
living Web Master in the world. Will Knight, and Terry, his wife
of 42 years, collect spider webs. At 73, Will is slight of stature, but long on knowledge of the
world, and of spiders, specifically the tiny orb-weavers called
Arancidae. In a seasoned barn and several outbuildings, he and
his wife collect spider webs, spun on specially designed frames,
and turn them 
into works of art. It all started 23 years ago, 
back in Brooklyn NY where Will worked in real estate and hobbied
in wood. He and Terry decided New York was not the place to raise their kids
so they packed up and moved to Vermont. Will explained that Terry
was not at home right now, but readily gave her all the credit
for discovering and inventing the web collection process. With an
energy surprising for such a senior, Will
took my arm as he led me to the frames where he sought out a
friendly
contributor. Having selected a particular web, he
scurried into the back room where he busied himself mixing a glue 
of his own mixture. This
he put in a power sprayer which appeared to have seen many
sprayings in its lifetime. Next he selected a fine piece of
pine, cut and polished with a dark mahogany stain. He sprayed the
glue onto the board. All this he brought out along with a can of
white spray paint. He stood in
front of the delicate web, coaxing its maker out of the line of
fire. 
With the spider safely behind the frame, Will dusted the web with the white spray
paint. From my distance is was a marvelous sight to behold. Where
there was nothing, slowly like a picture developing right before
my eyes, the web appeared. This accomplished, Will carefully
placed the freshly glued side of the pine board behind the web
frame and with a steady hand passed the wood through the frame
collecting the web in the pass.
