Mystery solved

Rich was quick to recognize this beautiful spider.

It was doing a fair job of blending in with the sand in our driveway when my evening walk nearly ended his existence. I didn't want to get too close, as I've seen some pretty nasty bite results. But he graciously posed, in the quickly fading light, for a few zooms. Had it been earlier, I would've gotten down on his level and tried for a nice portrait. However, the beautiful pre-spring weather has brought out, along with the hog plum and dogwood blossoms, a swarm of hungry sand gnats. I need to track down a new bottle of Burt's Bees repellent before I spend too much time out there. 8-}