Tia just shared a spooky spooky SPOOKY story about spiders that now has me feeling like I need to go take a shower because I'm itchy and SPOOKED! I do not allow the use of the word "hate" in our home. Its an ugly word and an ugly thing. How beautiful this world would be with out it. But guess what, I HATE spiders.
Anyway, reading about spiders I realized that I might be more scared of spiders than anything else in the world. Small spaces and spiders. Yes, I know what the official phobias are called and I have them. But then I started to think that I am not so scared of everything. I mean, my sisters tell me weird things all the time that they are terrified of and I just think, "Hm...yes, that would be scary if you drove into a lake with all of your children in the car (Nancy)...and yes, that would be scary if you got attacked by some kind of wild animal in the cat family (Amy)...and yes, that would be not too cool to have a mouse run across your foot (Kelly) but I can't say that I am really scared of that happening or that it is something I think about."
That made me think of my dear friend, Isson. He is one of the founders of Haitian Roots and is just the best guy. But he is very scared of snakes. He told me that once but I didn't really know how scared until he was at our house one time and I told Loumy to sneak up behind him with this little wooden snake that we had. It is made out of wooden chips and is on a ribbon and moves like a real snake. Maybe some of you have seen those toys. Anywho...that is one of those moments that I would have given anything to have on video. Isson jumped sky high and the look of terror in his eyes was something fierce, even once he knew it was a toy. But that's not nice of me to laugh about.
And that made me think about the time that we were out in the backyard and String Cheese and Deedle were playing on the swingset while Chancho and I did some yard work. SC and D were talking about snakes and their distaste for them. This was a few years ago so the girls were very tiny and this is what happened.
SC: I don't like snakes. Are there snakes around where we live, Mom?
Me: Well, yes, some snakes do live in our state.
SC: But not around here, right?
Deedle: Yes! There are snakes around here!
SC: But not right in our house. Are there mom? There aren't snakes out here in our yard, are there?
At that exact moment, I jumped and stifled a yelp as a long, black snake slithered slightly under the weeds I had just pulled. I stood for a moment holding my heart and trying not to scream.
Me: Chancho (I said it amazingly calmly). Chancho could you come over here for a minute with your shovel?
SC: Mom! Mom! I asked if there are ever snakes in our yard? There are no snakes in our yard, right?
Me: Chancho, hurry quickly please.
I smiled at SC and Deedle and pointed to the snake for Chancho to see. Then I stepped in front of him as he attacked the snake with the shovel.
SC: Mom!!! I said there are no snakes in our yard, right???!!!
Me: No, honey. No worries. (Chancho and I are now laughing as he surreptitiously scoops up pieces of the snake with the shovel to throw in the trash bag). No snakes around here!
And that story reminds me of the cool kid I met while running on Saturday. We have a lovely trail by my house and I've been getting back into shape little by little. I was nearing the end of my run Saturday afternoon when I slowed and then stopped because of the strange sight in front of me. About 20 yards in front of me on the path I saw what appeared to be a little boy walking his bike and holding...could it be...a snake. As I got a little closer, my initial sighting was confirmed. The boy was maybe 7 or 8 and the snake was big for around here. It was literally at least 5 feet long from head to tail and a good 2 inches in diameter at its thickest middle.
I approached cautiously as the snakes moved about. The boy held it out at arms length and smiled at me.
Me: So, I see you've got a snake there.
Boy: Yep. You know what kind it is?
Me: Nope. Its got a strange block pattern I don't recognize. Maybe you should put it down.
Boy: I think its a rattler. Do you think it is?
Me: Well, no, it doesn't have a rattle on the end, but it might not be really nice.
Boy: Yeah, it already bit me once. I like snakes, though. But I don't like them when they bite me really hard and it hurts and makes me cry. See, this one bit me right here on the leg but it didn't really hurt. Do you think its a rattler?
Me: No, its not a rattler. But since we don't know what kind it is, it might be a good idea to put it back down.
Boy: No, I caught it. I caught 16 of 'em. I like snakes. I'm gonna take it home.
Me: Hm...well...um...
Boy: Are you scared a' snakes?
Me: Actually, yes. I'm kind of scared of snakes.
Boy: I'm not. I love snakes. Do you think this is a rattler?
Me: No.
Boy: What kind do you think it is?
Me: Garter snake?
Boy: No. Its not a garden snake. But I don't know what kind it is. I'm gonna take it home.
Me: Well, I think it would be a better idea for you to not pick up snakes if you don't know what kind they are because it might be poisonous and could hurt you.
Boy: It didn't really hurt that much when it bit me. What kind do you think it is?
Me: I don't know. I guess if you take it home you could ask your mom to look up the pattern on the internet or something.
Boy: Yeah. Its not a rattler.
Me: Okay, well, be careful, all right? I'm going to go now.
And since coming home, I've decided to do a little research on snakes in my area. There are 31 indigenous snakes in this area and 7 of them are poisonous. Here's an interesting tidbit of info: When you see a snake (or if a little boy is holding up a big huge one) look at the eyes. Check the pupil and shape of the eye itself. Relax if the both the eye itself and the pupil are rounded in shape. However, use extreme caution or call the appropriate authorities if the eye and the pupil are elliptical like a cat's. These are hallmarks of a poisonous snake.
I also am quite sure that the snake this boy found was a Painted Desert glossy snake. It was definitely not a garter or water snake that we commonly see. Anyway, that's enough of my thoughts of scary things. 
Monday, August 17, 2009
A Crazy Thought Train About Scary Things
Posted by Perla at 9:49 PM
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10 comments:
That is really funny about that little boy. I would freak if I was his mom. I don't really mind snakes too much. We used to pick them up all the time when I was little. I should show you the pictures of this snake we found under a piece of plywood when we were building our house. It was huge and bright yellow, around 5 feet and 6inches around! Like it was a pet and somebody let it go. I think it was a corn snake. Anyways that was crazy!
Okay then. Turn about is certainly fair play. I freak you, you freak me!
And I think it was very mean of you to play that trick on your dear Isson. BS is DEATHLY afraid of snakes. I will have to blog about a funny story about that and camp. She will appreciate it. You can look for it.
And, that snake the boy was holding, was it poisonous? You didn't say. You just said what kind it was and, like my BRS's, I at first don't necessarily know a poisonous anything by its name.
Let's call a truce, shall we? No more freaky freak blog posts!
Woo-ee. That was a goood post about some good and spooky things. I love your conversation with the snake kid. And yah, I've heard you scream like you were being stabbed when really you saw a spider scuttling by.
Wow, that is so funny. Little boys...they can be so fearless at that age... it's kind of scary. Thank goodness he was playing with one of the 24 harmless ones. Thanks for the insight on what to look for in a poisonous snake. I just hope I'm never close enough to find out. Great story. Have a wonderful week. With love, mare
That little Tom Sawyer story was awesome. I wish my little boys would do more of that.
Dave ran over a r-a-t (I seriously have trouble typing it) the other day...I guess that is what we get for relocating c-a-t-s.
I am so glad Issom didn't have a heart attack but the way that you described the incident was quite funny. When I was teaching, a fellow teacher that had pet you-know-whats, animals for medical experiments, brought one into the room while I was playing with the kids on the floor. She placed it near me and let me tell you that it took all that I had not to have a heart attack!
ok. seriously? i'm going to have to stop visiting your blog and tia's at this point. i couldn't even read all the way through yours because i was STILL creeped out by tia's and then yours started the way it did. i'm going to have to read the rest in the morning after i've regrouped from my spider shivers because i don't like them either!! ugh!! :)
O I could remind you of your blood curddling scream after i talk of rapist and bad people breaking in one hot summer night very late. And how I may have had an actual heart attack thinking a murderer was right behind me.
I wish I could enjoy Isson jumping...But still a good scare was Dorthy at Culley's Halloween party. O good times. And I hate snakes. They are the scariest things in the world.
Last night I went to itch a tickle on my back and caught something big between my fingers. I freaked and threw it. I heard it hit the floor turned on the lights to see the grossest big spider....ahhhhh
Ok, so is a Painted Glossy snake poisonous? Maybe I'll stay of the trail. I HATE snakes! Loved your story. Coop brought a snake home in one of those plastic aquarium things and it got out. I found it the next morning slithering down the hall into the linen closet! Long story short, Coop was rudely awoken with me screaming, snake was re-caught, let loose (outside), and we didn't tell the daddy for a really long time :)
for those of you worried, no this snake is not poisonous but it can bite and it did bite the little boy but he didn't seem to care.
Great, great blog Shannon. I love how you record little dialogs. (Gordon would tell you that is a sign of a good writer.) Remember me waking up to a snake lying across my neck with its face just inches from mine. Wooooh Nellie if I didn't let out a scream and a jump like you've never seen!! Luckily Yang ran into the room to capture the snake and tell me all was well. I took a 2 hour shower to get the snake poop off of me. Aaron had captured 2 of them and put them in an aquarium. Let us all remember: SNAKES ALWAYS ESCAPE FROM AQUARIUMS!!!!!
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