Simple-mindedness!

We had a little experience here today that is a bit on the unsettling side for me.

I had been out in the backyard, checking out the progress in my garden -peas are blossoming as are the green beans and there are at least three blossoms on one tomato plant now too. The beets and carrots are growing nicely as are the scallions and the lettuce -well, it is really excellent! Mandy and I have had two beautiful chef salads from the fresh lettuce and the whole family has enjoyed regular tossed salads a couple of times, plus the other night, we all dined on bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwiches -on toast -for supper too.

Ok, I just digressed, big time there, cause I got so excited talking about my lovely bed of leaf lettuce. So, back to my story.

I had come in the house and was getting a few things ready to start supper when Katie's boyfriend, Simon, showed up here.

When he came in he told me that some guy in a blue -or blue and white - older model pickup truck was stopped out in front of my house and hollering for me, from the cab of the pickup truck.

Now, there are times when I have difficulty hearing the damned telephone ring when I am in here, with the kids making noise, tv blaring, etc., but when the front windows were not open (as they weren't today) and the neighbor across the street was moving grass in his yard, directly across the road from our house, tv playing here -yes, of course -and me in the kitchen, you can bet your bottom dollar I'm not gonna hear someone calling out to me from a pickup truck (that is also running, making a bit more noise to add to the mix)!

And just why was this fellow yelling for me?

Well, because he wanted to tell me he had just run over a black snake that was about four foot in length -so he told Simon -and that said black snake had slithered away, down into my yard and was last seen slinking along the side of the house.

Wonnerful, wonnerful! I'm, highly impressed. NOT!!!!!

For the record, I HATE, HATE, HATE, Loathe, Abhor and Despise snakes. Any snakes! Big snakes, little snakes, poisonous, non-poisonous -makes no never-mind to me. I hate 'em all!

I know many will get upset by my saying this but in my book, the only damned good snake is a DEAD, DEAD, DEAD one!

Of course, Simon didn't know which side of the house the snake traveled by in making its exit but I got up my courage and went out, taking a walk along the side of the house where the kitchen is located. I didn't see hide nor hair of anything remotely resembling a slightly -or maybe severely injured black snake in the throes of making a get-away. Boy, I was thankful for that! But then again, I wasn't thankful for not having spotted the damned serpent either because that, to me, means that the little so-and-=so may have managed to make its way down to my little garden, which by the way, is so thick now with veggies just growing away that it could hide in there, recuperate and regenerate itself and be waiting for me the next time I go there to pull some lettuce or to check on the tomato plant or well, do whatever, ya know.

And trust me when I tell you this, if I do happen to encounter said black snake -or any or its relatives or progeny, you will probably hear me screaming no matter what far corner of this earth you may call home!

I am however quite thankful for one thing though.

At least this snake was not a rattlesnake like the one someone ran over right in front of my son's house about two weeks or so back!

Now had this been a rattler or a copperhead, I would not have even ventured out of the house to take a look-see around for a carcass of the snake or any trace of it whatsoever!

It does still boggle my mind as to why whoever this guy was that hit this snake -who obviously knows me because he told Simon to tell "Jen" that he had hit this snake. He knows my name so surely then he also knows I am getting on in years, the limbs don't function quite as smoothly or quickly as they once did and the hearing -well, it just ain't quite what it used to be either.

If the guy was that darned concerned, why the heck didn't he just pull the truck over into a parking spot in front of my house -there are about 3 or 4 slots open most of the time there -and come down to the house, bang on the door and tell me about this and then, also tell me which side of the house the darned snake was last seen by too?

I know that knowing all that information, being much clearer in my mind, would eliminate (hopefully, anyway) the prospect of my having nightmares now about black snakes invading the crawl space under the sunporch which is now my bedroom or sneaking into the basement or hiding from me amongst the veggies in my garden patch.

Wouldn't you feel better if you knew all that too?