PHOTO FROM SETH

So, one sweltering, not- too- long- ago, summer day I was celebrating the Fourth of July with family and friends at a barbecue. We had swam for hours, ate for hours, and made homemade ice cream that took hours because the dumb machine handle was stuck whenever we would try and crank it. As the sun was setting in the South – just seeing if you are paying attention- as the sun was setting over the mountains, and the last orange rays reflected off of our fresh new face burns, a large group of our party decided to sit on the grass and around the grass and eat the finally made ice cream. More people stayed later than was supposed to so we had to share, and I really was expecting some peach, but got strawberry. I had just come fresh from the pool and was drying off so my immediate family could get ready to go home and prepare our garden hoses for neighbors and their illegal fireworks that tend to get in our firewood pile.

As I sat down on the grass with a towel around my waste cross legged, I saw a blur of movement and thought my eyes have been without sunglasses too long. I decided it was nothing. But! It was something. As I ate my ice cream, strawberry, a head, yes, a head of a snake poked out from the towel on top of my leg. Meaning the rest of the snake was up my towel and who knows where! I freaked out and threw my bowl in the air, and since I was in the company of children and their grandparents who don’t really like me, changed my scream of “SH—“ to “Shnake”. Which everyone thought I was being funny. I WASN’T. The snake was still in my towel. I whipped that towel off so fast and the snake went flying towards the grandma, flipping in midair quite a few times. It was one of those slow motion memories. The snake landed at her feet and tried to climb right up her leg. In the mean time, the idea of a snake being a snake where it was still had me bouncing around and squealing while my dad and mom tried to chase the little snake down. Okay, I thought it was much bigger being up my towel and all, but it was a small snake. By this time I had all the children under the age of sixteen screaming with me and running around, scaring the poor snake into crazy circles. It was chaos. When my mom and dad finally caught it in a lunch box, I pet it and apologized and we went and released it in the desert. I really don’t mind snakes. I don’t like them in my personal bubble without me knowing though. This was a good Fourth of July! Have a good weekend everyone!