Beautiful Snake

I met the second such snake today on my way out the door of my casita. It was a beautiful black and white King Snake, so named because of its habit of eating rattlesnakes and copperheads. To learn more, CLICK HERE. The last one I encountered was HUGE. Chubby and perhaps 6 feet long. I watched it from a distance for many minutes, fascinated.

I met my fellow earthling today at closer proximity. It was crossing the sidewalk behind me as I carried a load out to the car. I laughed at myself because I had been so carefully checking for the "R" word under the bushes as I was taking trash out. Like I would ever see it there.

"Snake!" I said to myself outloud. Why am I always alarmed to see a snake? It is after all, just a legless lizard. It's a sequence, I guess, from habitual ground-watching after stepping on the big "R" a few years ago, and almost getting bitten.

This snake was a beauty as was the last. I watched again for many minutes, moved by its vulnerability. It was flip-flopping all over the rocks and sidewalk until it finally found a patch of shade where the ground wasn't in the triple-digits. I could almost see its relief. Then it settled into the crack of the sidewalk looking just like a tar strip. Why do I bother looking?