View from the North 40

Halloween has brought out all the spider decorations, but a man in Fresno, California, who was house sitting for his parents, had a problem Oct. 24 with real spiders, a problem he felt compelled to take care of himself. With a blowtorch.

To be honest, the story, the visuals, the laughs, they just about write themselves after that last part.

The details are pretty standard and, frankly, on the lighter side of tragedy. No one was killed or injured, no other structures or acreage caught fire, the house sustained damage to the second story and attic and the house and neighborhood were nice en...