May 4, 2006

Don't Let the Snake Bite















The snake took a turn towards me right after I took this picture.
Run Linda, run!
We love the new baby pine cones on the pine tree next to our second story balcony.
(If pictures this size slow you guys down too much, please comment and let me know. )

I lost this story while trying to fix pictures that were upside down. (Don't you hate having to re-create something!) The magnifying glass broke and a fly dropped in my Dr. Pepper. I should have just gone to bed with Jim...


But it was a wonderful 72 degrees sunny day with a slightly cool breeze that was great for walking along the little pond where we live or driving with the window down and letting my hair blow.

The snake swam in front of two geese while I was taking pictures. (The geese pictures are upside down and I can't get Adobe to fix them. The message says I'm low on space?) The snake was moving along at a rapid pace across the pond when it suddenly turned toward me! It came right out of the water toward me but I didn’t wait around to see how much of a bite he wanted to take out of my ankle!

Jim says that Ohio only has “black snakes” that swim, but this was dark brown with other brown markings – although truth be said – I really didn’t hang around to check closely.

There was laundry to be done at the quarter-hungry laundry mat. Winter spreads to wash and put away for summer. Dryers that took all my quarters and then stopped dead after 2 minutes and of course, no manager around to return my money.

While waiting for the film to develop, I wanted to wash the grass clippings off the car but that machine also ate my quarters and stopped after 15 seconds. With half the car wet, I had no choice but to spend $6 on the drive-through. I banged on the door, but once again, the manager was out taking a walk in the park, I suppose.

I tried to outrun two fire trucks and a police car and I’m sure the cop would have loved to pull me over, but by the time he came up behind me, I decided to pull over. Up ahead the two fire trucks ran the red-light and then realized they should have turned right – the way I was turning. They made a complete U-turn and came back to the intersection. What I saw when I came up to all the activity was two cars that barely bumped together, but two ladies were screaming at each other and being held apart by the firemen and police.

Floyd Phillips has a blog now, thanks to an “old friend” who encouraged the idea. Jim says Floyd’s writing adds new meaning to blogging or religion, he isn’t sure which. Floyd and Tania are friends from many years. He used to baby-sit Billy and Philip at Laurelbrook. He and Tania sang at our early morning sunrise wedding. He plays the piano by ear and can play anything he’s heard once or twice. My "seventh-heaven" is to sit and listen to Floyd play the piano. Okay, his blog site is clayfootsteps.blogspot.com Add that to your favorites for some unusually deep thinking reading. Comments would be welcome, I'm sure.

The News of the Day is that I am now the PROUD OWNER of an Ebay Store called Angelwings Attic. I’ve listed my book there. (It’s the only way I could list something I wanted to sell more than one of.) I’ve wanted to do that for years and last night I worked the Live Help to set it up. It will cost $15 a month to keep and feel free to let me know if you have something you’d like me to sell for you. I don’t know how to tell you how to find the store but I can send you a link straight from the site so you can view it.

Jim got an interview call today. It’s the orphanage here in Columbus where he was dropped off as a baby. (You didn’t know that about him, did you?) He will hear something next week, hopefully. He calls it “full circle” if he gets the job, but I'm not expecting that to happen. Guess we're both a little disheartened about the job prospects.

Today was grass cutting day for the apartment complex where we live. I missed the Mexicans! (Yes, I ran to the window to check when I heard the lawn mowers!) Cute blond American men and girls wearing short shorts just aren't the same! I'm saddened and worried because I know the Mexicans have families here and no place to go back to! They can't get unemployemnt or welfare! Yes, I know they aren't legal, don't vote and don't pay taxes. And, the government should address the problem of influx, but they do work harder than most Americans, and they do work no one else will do! I miss them even though the only words we ever shared were, "No English" and "No Spanish".

Everybody think of Sandy on Thursday as she gets an invasive test done on her back. Send her good vibes and get well wishes. Her email address is busborin@aol.com . You know her blogsite as catsandsplats.blogspot.com

Take Care on the Journey - and watch out for those snakes in the grass!
~Linda

2 comments:

Katy said...

What pretty photos! I love your style, Linda. They're not too big for us because we have DSL.
Love,
Katy

Katy said...

By the way, how the heck do snakes swim, anyway? Jim?
Katy