Snakes

Today’s walk turned out to be all about snakes. It seems that the cold air caused a couple of snakes to follow their instincts to warmth, only this time it was the warm water of the swimming pool. Unfortunately, therein they might their demise. Then, a few miles into my walk, I came upon this HUGE snake. I sensed a theme; a somewhat disturbing theme, but a theme. Snakes .

I grew up in a house that was surrounded by trees and that backed up to miles of woods. There were snakes everywhere. In the trees. In the yard. On the porch. In the attic. There was one snake that I knew I could find everyday at a certain time hanging out on the cool metal of the engine of my go cart. I never thought too much about snakes. They never really bothered me. Snakes just “were”.

When I was a boy I loved to read about the snakes in Kipling’s Jungle Biok and Rikki Tikki Tavi. I would sit for hours on the floor with the “S” volume of our World Book Encyclopedia and peruse the color photos of the different snakes. As an adult, I liked the role of snakes in the Harry Potter books. And, I must confess, I was totally creeped out by the movie, “Snakes on a Plane”.

In the biblical story, it is a snake, or serpent, that caused trouble in the Garden of Eden. The snake knew enough of what God said to get it wrong, to misquote, to deceive. And the human creatures got off track the moment they started listening to, and conversing with, a talking snake. One thing leads to another and the humans disobey God. They are kicked out of the Garden and then their story becomes the story of us all. And snakes have gotten a bad deal ever since.

I’m still curious about snakes. They are fascinating creatures who, like we humans, come in a seemingly infinite number of colors and sizes. They adapt. They can slough off the past with their skin and start anew from time to time. But I must admit, when I pass this towering snake on my walk each day, I hurry past without a word. I don’t even want to know if it can talk. I’m afraid I might get caught up in a conversation, and I have enough troubles already.

Peace