If A Snake Is Run Over And No One Is Around To Hear It, Does It Still Make That Horrible Sound?

I went out this morning to sit on my porch, have my morning cigarette, and make my daily to-do list when I happened to see a snake in the road. It was trying to make it's way across the hot road away from our yard. I called out to Geof and we went to marvel at it's movements. Geof seemed quite intrigued and we watched the snake for several minutes until I heard a car coming down the road. We headed back to the house and as the car passed I heard I terrible SNAP, I figured the car had hit a stick. I realized after I turned around that it had been the snake! The bastard ran over it! It was just a black snake, a Black Rat Snake or Elaphe obsoleta to be more specific. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not a huge fan of snakes at all, but why kill a black snake? Black snakes eat rats and mice among other things. I can still hear that horrible sound.....shiver...Geof was even a bit put off by it. He said to me, after I explained what happened, "Would you tell that freakin' car to stop breaking up those things!" I had a good chuckle over that.

Fare Thee Well, Flashlight Bali! Farewell, Dear Tiffany!!

A few days ago Geof and I discovered a box turtle making it's way across our road. We picked it up and made it a nice little home out of a galvanized bucket filled with dirt, leaves, and rocks and set it on our porch. We fed her lettuce from the garden, some left over fruit salad (peaches were her favorite), and water. We learned through online research that she was in fact a she because her eyes looked like this...

and not like this...


We asked Geof what her name should be and after a little thinking he came up with Flashlight Bali, and so it was. Today we took Flashlight Bali to the park and let her go free near the river....safely away from our precious tomato plants and other garden goodies.

Tomorrow we'll go to the library, if we have time, to learn more about turtles...and sadly, death. Fear not, Flashlight Bali left the shoebox in which we carried her to the park of her own power and we watched as she found her way through the grass and disappeared. My Mom's dog had to be put down yesterday, however. Tiffany was 12 years old, deaf and going blind. My Mom is taking it fairly hard, hell, even my Dad teared up and he and the dog never got along. Mom said she feels foolish for crying over a dog, but Tiffany had been a part of her life every day for the past 12 years. I keep telling my Mom that she did the right thing, but grieving takes time, even for a canine.

A Recommended Read

I've never been accused of being a huge bookworm, but I do enjoy a good read. Here lately I haven't had the desire to crochet, which had been my most consuming hobby until recently, and I needed something to occupy my time when Geof was busying himself. On a recent trip to visit my folks I asked my Dad if he could recommend a book. He brought me The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I finally finished reading it yesterday and I must say that I really enjoyed it. It was different from anything I've read before although it almost had a DaVinci Code air about it. Both deal with solving a great historical mystery and the danger that comes with discovery. However, The DaVinci Code dealt with Christ and The Historian dealt with Vlad Tepes...aka Vlad the Impaler...aka Dracula. All-in-all a very good read, that I highly recommend!