So that's what they are

Those tiny red spider looking things? You know, the ones that explode into red stains when you so much as look at them sternly?

Clover mites.

I’ve wondered what those are for years. I remember as a child in grade school, wondering just where they came from. Usually the tip of my pencil would find one of them, racing across the top of my desk. The pencil would then, magically become a red ballpoint pen before running out of “ink” and turning back into a pencil. They feed on plants, which is probably why I never saw them in my house while I was growing up. (My parents had a wonderfully watered dust yard.)

So again, in case you were wondering–Clover mites.