julibee
Herb, we call those Garden Spiders with the awesome webs Orb Weavers or August Spiders ('cause that's when you mostly see them). I have a friend who refuses to walk out onto his patio without first grabbing his "spider stick" a waving it around in the air ahead of him. Makes for some funny pantomime. But, a good idea, even if hilarious to watch.
There is a superstition that if you disturb the web the garden spider will "write your name" on the web and if that happens you will die.
I like to feed them and on occasion... touch the web to see them shake the web. But I mostly let them be since I have never found one in the house.
I lived in a mobile home back in my poor musician days and there was a black but fuzzy spider that took up residence on the inside of the window screen. My mom used to call them dust spiders. I would catch bugs and put them on the screen. The spider would rush out and grab them. I did that for several weeks until one day, I noticed the spider was growing quite large and the hairs around it's eyes were turning an iridescent green and blue. Quite pretty, but a bit disturbing so I captured the critter and took it outside and let it go..... it was after all... a pet that I had fed.