i was having a hard day...do you ever get tasked with something so difficult that you lay your head on your desk, wondering how you're going to do THAT???
i decided to get a breath of fresh air...i stepped outside to check the mail, and noticed charlie (my neighbor's cat) in my garden...charlie had obviously just found something, and he took off running with his prize...to me, it looked like a dark lump, and i was afraid he'd found my toad...i caught up with him around the corner on his master's back porch, where he dropped it...
we both stood there looking at it, both a little dumbfounded, when i said outloud, "charlie, that's a SNAKE"...secretly, i was happy charlie found it instead of me, as i'm only terrified of snakes if they sneak up on me (and we all know they are exceptionally good at that)...
i blinked at the snake, trying to figure out if it was poisonous...i decided it was probably a garter snake...i also remembered that non-poisonous snakes are good at biting...i looked at my hands full of mail, shrugged my shoulders, and went back to my computer...where i started having doubts about that being the right course of action...i decided i had to SAVE the snake from charlie...
i pulled out my leather work gloves, went back over to find charlie in the same position, just staring at the snake, occasionally tapping at it with his paws...i picked it up, only to discover that it smelled REALLY BAD...i headed to release it some place away from charlie (because, theoretically, garter snakes are good)...but, being me, i had to identify it first, so it went into a holding container...yep...verified on-line...definite garter snake...i called the boys dad to see if he wanted a garter snake as a pet, to which he responded "garter snakes stink", which i ALREADY KNEW...so i turned the critter loose as planned, but i snapped the picture first...
lots & lots of adrenaline...wheeeew...all i wanted was to check the mail...nice...easy...relaxing...but noooooooo...
