Monday, September 29, 2008

Busy, busy

Whew! My life lately is so busy, I hardly have time to consider blogging. So here I am, over my lunch hour, or part of it. 
 
My week-end included a football game (very warm), the Keats Fall Festival (also very warm), church  and doing a huge laundry. But perhaps the most exciting part of the week-end (sorry, Wildcats!) was having a snake in my kitchen Friday evening.
 
Having smelled something burning, I was headed to the stairs to see if there was a problem or was it simply, as it turned out, my landlady or landlord having a bit of cooking overage! Oops! What should I spy but there making his way from under the door to my pantry cupboard was a nice friendly little snake. Shades of denial, then floods of goosebumps!
 
I immediately stepped to my phone and called Joyce upstairs who promised to be right down. She knows how unreasonably freaked out I get at snakes. Hey, I know how unreasonably freaked out I get, but can't help myself. My mind knows its unreasonable but my body doesn't listen to my mind.
 
So here comes Joyce carrying a clear glass serving dish and a cute calendar with pastel flowers on it. I'm thinking - what the heck! This isn't a ladies luncheon here. But her choices proved wise a little later, well, except for maybe the pastel flower part. I think that was a coincidence.
 
Meanwhile, cute little snake has gone behind the cupboard. Joyce says - how big is he? Well, he looked to be as big around as your finger and about 2 feet long. Or at least he was that big in my imagination. (Turned out, he was more like a pencil and maybe 14-18 inches.)
 
Now behind this cupboard is where I tuck my grocery bags, something I don't think I'll be doing from now on. We preceded to clean them out, one by one, top to bottom.
 
Joyce pulled out a paper bag at the bottom and what should drop out of the fold of the bag but Mr. Snake. After we jumped and shrieked appropriately, Joyce took her clear glass bowl and maneuvered it over top of Mr. Snake. (I meanwhile am standing by with my tongs. Salad tongs. If I'd been at my sister's house, we would of had fireplace tongs, her weapon of choice.)
 
Joyce takes her calendar with pastel flowers and slides it carefully under Mr. Snake, picks it up oh-so-carefully and takes him outside. The logic of using a clear glass bowl became obvious when it became possible to see just where Mr. Snake is and what he is doing. I must find a good clear glass bowl and keep it handy from now one. Right next to my salad tongs.
 
All in all, it wasn't too bad an experience. I haven't experienced any unreasonable chills just walking around the apartment as a result. The last time I experienced extracting a reptile from my abode, I had chills for months. I must be getting better. 
 
I'll have to share more snake stories sometime. Its the closest I get to Stephen King episodes.

4 comments:

Momtana said...

OK...the snake survived (and so did the both of you)...but amidst pastel floral covered calendars and crystal spheres...what was the smell?

turfchick said...

Be glad it wasn't a skunk. I'd take a snake any day!!

little apple tally said...

The smell was indeed some burnt cooking odor! Not to mention any smells I may have emitted midst an attack of fear!

riprarentogo said...

Was it a one eyed snake?