Thursday, September 29, 2011

such lovely dreams



Okay...  so with only three hours of sleep since Monday, I was all tuckered out last night.  I crawled into bed, and an odd thought slipped through my mind...  I thought about that snake I had seen the first year I was here.  It bothered me a bit.  I even turned on my light and checked out the tops of the windows (a favorite haunt for blacksnakes, I had heard from my friend Nellie)...  Ah, nothing...  I ventured off into oblivion.  I didn't even remember dreaming, which is rare.  

Suddenly the tunes of "Hotel California," my ringtone...  It is four-thirty.  My mom's voice blares me awake...  "Gayla?"  (who did she think would answer?)

"Will you bring in something to kill....  something?  To my bathroom..."  That is NOT the phone call a person wants to get at 4:30 a.m.  There could be worse, of course, but really..???  I was thinking WHAT WAS THIS "SOMETHING"?

As I grabbed a cane, she came barreling out of that end of the house on her walker..  She can move, I tell you!  It was a four foot snake, maybe a black snake...  in the corner of her bathroom.  By the time I got in there, he was heading down the register..

Yours truly, who has to wear garden gloves to take out a mouse caught dead in a trap, took that cane and beat that poor snake to death.  Mom called our neighbor, and he arrived in no time to take the creature out to the yard and "kill it again."

By this time, it was 5:30....  and I have started my day.  I have a headache!

As I slipped off to get ready for school, Mom called after me: "I have a new respect for you."

"It was hard won," I mumbled....

Did I have a portent of that snake?  Does he have a brother?  Is a "day in the country" truly "worth a month in town"?

I think this post requires a comment!  I need your support out there!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's amazing what we can do when it has to be done. Congratulations, job well done! I hope I would be so brave in the same circumstances. I HATE snakes.
Becky

Lisa Pogue said...

OMG, I don't know what else to say other than YOU ARE MY HERO!!!!!!!!!!!

Ceekay-THINKIN of HOME said...

Lets see...how can I comment...like, there is no better snake than a dead snake? I would have probably ran the other way...yeah, no, not probably! Good for you....you deserve some chocolate at least for that!

karlascottage.typepad.com said...

We are in the country and have snakes. I've learned to just let them go, they help with mice. Luckily I've never seen one in the house, that would freak me out! They do get in the basement though.

Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...

I know this is nuts, but snakes don't scare me. I grew up handling them because my best friend's brother was always catching garter snakes for pets...and he'd let me hold them when I was visiting their home. Of course, they were more like a foot long, not four! They are great for catching rats. But I definitely would not want one in my home! I've see a good many curled up around my house...probably after all the chipmunks that live in the yard. Hope you finally got some good rest.

Nancy's Notes said...

Yikes! I'd have a headache too, and I mean, big time!

Judy Butler said...

We used to live by a river and ended up with snakes in our house on 3 different occasions! Once there was one climbing up the front of my dryer in the basement. The second time there was one in my mud room. And, the third time it was just the skin...but it was behind my couch in the livingroom. I was totally freaked out, especially since my kids were little at the time. Fortunately each time I could scream for someone to come "take care of it" because I wouldn't have had the guts to do it myself. Still gives me goosebumps when I think about it!

Kristine said...

What a way to start the day! I love your blog - have had fun reading some of your roadtrip adventures :) from a fellow Missourian..