I feel so empowered...I must share with you WHY!! It's not a pretty story...but one that made me feel like I have started to over-come a life long fear. As many of you know my husband and I are about to embark on a new adventure in our lives. As native Texans we will be moving to California in a few weeks. Yes, Yes, I'm sure many of you are wondering WHAT? happened to our plans of building our dream house on the 8 acres we bought year before last...yes, we were suppose to be starting and finishing that dream house this year...but b/c my husbands new business which he started about 2 years ago has taken off on the West Coast...we had to postpone those dreams for 3 or 4 years. I am looking forward to the adventure!
Anyhooo...the reason for this "empowering" post...last night while getting things ready for the BIG move I decided I need to have a SALE. I was out all day yesterday getting things ready in the garage for the HUGE "tag" sale I will be having this weekend. A friend came over earlier in the evening to help. It was getting late and dark...so as I was walking my friend to her car (remember we live on 2 acres, quasi in the country ). As we were walking to her car I noticed something out of the corner of my eye...at first I just assumed it was a rope or piece of ribbon. I asked my friend...is that a ribbon?...OR a SNAKE? To which she replied..."surely, it's a ribbon... oh! my! gosh! THAT ribbon is starting to move!" Well of course...PANIC ensued, it was a jumbled mess of flailing arms and jumping feet...I did NOT want that gnarly creature to enter my garage, it was packed and if he entered...he would NEVER be found! He needed to go...go far, far away...but he wasn't! He started to slowly slither toward my open garage door...SO, I did the only thing I could think of ( I really wanted to get a gun and shoot it but, I do know a thing or two about gun safety and I know NOT to shoot a gun at a concrete driveway)...so off to the area of the garage that holds all the yard tools, it felt as though it was a mile away, many scenarios were raising through my head...should I get the gas powered weed eater?...NO! that would take way too long to start...how about the edger?...nah, the noise alone would scare the snake into escaping inside my garage, how about the lawn mower...ooops we don't have one anymore, we gave it away when we started using the lawn service (funny how things raise through your head, in my case empty as it was, all the while you're kind of running around like a chicken w/it's head cut off...wasting VALUABLE time!!) I would never pass any test for entry into the CIA, military, or Secret Service...I just can't react quickly enough!! FINALLY, I found a shovel and some kind of sharp semi-circle half-moon thingy ( we use it to cut grass along the beds)...I knew it must be sharp! I armed myself w/that and gave my friend the shovel for back-up...just in case I missed on the first swing. If you know me at all...you know that is entirely possible. Now, not wanting to get too close to this serpent...I stood as far away from it as I could (actually the length of the handle on the sharp instrument thingy) all the while leaning over and straining to reach far enough to make the first strike count! I needed more than anything for that creature to just look the other way...and not start raising his head at me OR making those striking movements they tend to do!! I needed to act quickly because he was on the move...and believe me...those things can move! So...I reared back with all my might and WHACK...WHEWWWW...thank goodness...CONTACT...on the first try...of course this only stunned the creature, so I had to keep swinging...I think I smacked, stabbed, jabbed and slammed that snake about 15 times...but people...what I really needed to happen finally did after a half dozen or so swings...but of course for good measure I kept going and I have bruises on my hand to show for it...I suppose I was really griping that handle hard and pounding the snake even harder!! I'm not one for picking a snake up w/a hoe (besides I couldn't find one) and setting it off in the field only to scare me another day...AS far as I'm concerned ALL snakes are poisonous...and they must be sentenced to death. I know some of you may think me cruel...but I knew I would NEVER sleep if I didn't put him to rest...FOREVER! I really just wanted to run in the house and lock the doors...as if I thought a snake had a key or something and could just come in my home on a whim....then I remembered snakes don't have pockets, therefore they could not carry keys...so I decided I had to do what I had to do. Thankfully, my friend was there for moral support and actually told me she would do the dastardly deed...but I KNEW she didn't want to...and it was my house...so I DID IT! I am rather proud of myself (it's amazing what you can and have to do sometimes when your "hero man" is gone). Last time this happened and hubbin was away...I called my friends son who lives about 1 mile away...by the time he arrived...the snake was gone and I fretted about it for days.
Don't think I'm completely over this trauma however, b/c tonight while outside w/the dogs...I thought every twig, piece of string or long blade of grass was a snake...yea...I'm still a bit jumpy...but I think I'm starting to win one of my battles against snake fear! I just don't EVER want to have to do this again! I think by next month I will be able to go outside and walk around without the blade/shovel in my hand!!
Oh! and for those of you who maybe thought it was just an average garden snake (as my friend thought it was)...it WASN'T...it was a copperhead...so it needed killing! It wasn't very large; maybe 12 to 15 inches or so, but it was big enough to scare me. AND you will never believe what one of the carpenter men that is doing some work on our house told me today...Oh hon...that was a baby, that just means there is a den of others out there somewhere! GEE THANKS...no wonder I'm still a tad jumpy! I guess I better keep that shovel handy!
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