A SNAKE!

Monday, September 2nd, we were still drying up from a low front that had dumped more than 12 inches of rain. Benjamin reads books to Jared every night and this particular night I hear the shout, "Snake! Mom! A SNAKE!" With great, I mean great, exasperation I told Sally I would call her back, defied gravity and rose out of my chair in front of the computer and I marched across the house plotting what punishment Ben would earn for trying to pull a prank on me. (At 9:15 p.m., way past bedtime and I had caved to the request to keep the reading tradition. I wanted to throw both of them in bed!) I was shocked to see from the doorway a REAL snake! I started jumping, squeeling, and hopping around. Which started Jared doing the same thing. I told Ben to go get Eddie, our neighbor next door. I stayed to watched it and make sure it didn't go anywhere. I risked losing sight of it to run and get the camera. I threw the phone near it and snapped this picture. I don't know that it is that helpful though because it is taken at an angle and not next to it. I'm no expert but it gives a little perspective. Benjamin swears it landed on his head, slid down to his book in his lap, he launched it in the air when he jumped, it landed on Jared's foot and slithered to the middle of the room. Gross! Eddie arrived with a shovel and a stick and removed it after a couple of wiggly escapes. I had to find an EXTREMELY happy place in my head to put boys in there beds and me in my bed. This is the second snake this year! Last spring a snake slithered into my house as I opened the front door with my arms loaded down with groceries. I first thought it was our own snake leaving the house but the next instant realized it was an intruder. I hopelessly watched a snake that was over 4 feet long slither into my house and disappear under the front door. It only now occurs to me that I could have slammed the door shut and squished it. Shiver me timbers! Instead, I panicked, dropped my groceries and ran hysterically across my lawn panning my neighbors houses for any possible male that could be home. Miraculously, a neighbor kiddy corner from my house was out front mowing his lawn. John caught sight of me and leaped off his riding lawn mower to find out what was wrong!! That visual of quick response is burned into my brain. We eventually found it behind the DVD case near the front door. He picked it up with a nerf sword and it reached from the floor to his waist and wrapped around him a few times. It was a garter snake. Harmless, I know, but it wasn't a named pet and therefore not at all welcome!