I’ve ventured out three times for Black Friday events – the first last night and twice today. I wasn’t searching for anything in particular, but I always like to go and just check out the deals. And, while many people were getting great bargains for next to nothing, that was not the most exciting thing to happen to me today.
We’re watching a friend’s dogs for the holiday and my daughter and I went to feed them this afternoon, and I found much more than I had bargained for!
Let me set the scene.
My friends have a beautifully manicured backyard and large nice dog area. (Think dog park.) I went in to get the dog food bowls and noticed a six-foot hose in the yard. I thought, “Hmmm, that’s weird. The dogs must have torn something up.” And, I went to investigate closer – without my glasses on. Well, I walked up next to the hose, and suddenly my daughter started crying (she’s 21) and yelling. Apparently, I was standing next to a six-foot snake.
For a moment I just stood there because I was so close to it, and at that point, I wasn’t sure what kind of snake I’d stumbled upon. In South Texas, a black snake could be nonvenomous or extremely dangerous. I just watched it for a minute, not certain if it were a cottonmouth—my friends live near a field with a well-watered ditch, so it could have been a cottonmouth. Visions of a terrifying scene from Lonesome Dove filled my thoughts—don’t look up the snake scene! Either way, I didn’t want to anger it, so I slowly backed away and walked over to the dog bowls. (The dogs had to be fed.)
I quickly grabbed them, let the dogs out of their dog park area, and shut the gate.
Honestly, I was terrified, but I knew I couldn’t ignore the fact that a giant snake was in close proximity to my friends’ dogs and they were my responsibility. I made a quick call to my hubs and told them there appeared to be a dead snake in the dog area, and he told me to get a shovel and toss it over the fence. So, I steeled myself and grabbed the shovel. I poked it gently to see if it was in fact dead. I didn’t want any surprises. But, it hadn’t moved at all since I’d first realized it was a snake. It didn’t move. Relieved and a little sad that the snake was dead, I slid the shovel under it and lifted it. That’s when I found out that the snake was not dead, and my daughter started screaming again—much louder than before.
Unfortunately, the “dead” snake didn’t like being picked up, and he started moving all over the place. That’s when I started screaming and ran out of the dog area with the shovel, again slamming the gate behind me. I tried to take care of the problem, but I was done. Thankfully, my husband came to my rescue and carefully removed the snake from the dog area. He set it outside the fence where it could slither away and live out its life.
So, my big take away from this is never to assume a snake is dead, just because it’s playing dead, and to NEVER again go outside without my glasses on! My rubber hose turned out to be an indigo snake (non-venomous and pretty docile, but what if it hadn’t been?) Shivers down my spine…UGH!
That’s been my day in a nutshell. Tonight, I’m going to watch Frozen II and chill out a bit. I could use the distraction; my nerves are still a little frayed. After that? Well, I plan to check out the cyber Monday book sale that I’m including at the bottom of this newsletter. I could use a diversion that doesn’t come with actual fangs!
Well, I hope your Thanksgiving has been wonderful, and you’ve had a great time with friends and family. I wish you the very best. Until next time.
Kind regards,
Arwen
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