Saturday morning. I meet up with Ginger out by the raised garden. We're talking about pruning a branch on the Granny Smith Apple Tree... I think it's dead, the branch not the tree. Ginger starts to say something and then stops. Then she quietly says, "snake," as she looks to the raised garden.
Did I ever tell you about the time I was aerating the lawn on a quiet Sunday morning. Oh this must have been 25 years ago... give or take. I had this gizmo that hooked up to the hose and with 2 spikes protruding from the bottom that worked like syringes. You drive the spikes into the ground with your foot, turn on the water, wait 15 seconds or so and move forward about a foot and start over.
It's a mindless activity. I was on my 3rd or 4th row when it happened. As I day dreamed about something, I stomped on the aerator to drive the spikes into the ground and turned on the water. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw this brown snake raise it's ugly head. Jolted from my reverie I tried to jump away. I fell, knocking the aerator over and landing in damp grass. I looked around. The brown man eater was nowhere to be seen.
I thought I had scared it away with my clumsy attempt at escape. Sure.
I resumed aerating. Ahead one foot. Stomp the device. Turn on the water. Wait. Turn off the water. Pull the aerator out of the ground and start over.
As I was progressing down the next row I'll be damned if that brown snake didn't rear it's ugly head again. Just like last time I see it out of the corner of my eye and reactively jump knowing deep inside that is the only way to save myself from this highly dangerous killer. Again I trip and fall to the ground. No sooner do I hit the ground I'm rolling to my feet. I'm not going to let this creature take my life without a fight!
That's when I note the aerator is still in the ground. Huh? That brown snake is just a bit of water squirting up through one of the previous aeration holes. Geez, what a dork I was. I start to laugh. I laugh harder and harder. I can't stand. I'm about to wet my pants. That's when I notice Ginger. She is standing at the window watching me. She must have been sad because she had tears running down her cheeks. If only someone would have had a video camera....
So with this story in mind, you might think that when Ginger softly said, "snake," I might have fallen all over myself. It didn't happen, but that would have made a really good story. I turned to look where she was looking. There, on top of a green plant lay the prettiest green snake. It was slender, about 30 inches long with clear eyes that were looking right at us.
I looked at the snake for about 10 seconds and then went to get my camera. By the time I returned with the camera the snake had moved on and we couldn't find it amongst all the green plants in the garden.
I will admit that if I were picking tomatoes and this guy snuck up on me I would probably jump, fall and look like a dork. I'll be keeping my eyes open... you can count on it.
Another creature to add to the menagerie.
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