...oldies but goodies again. Foundd this I wrote up in 01. Don't think I've ever posted this in here. Those were the good old days.
SNAKES, TURTLES, AND VACATIONS
You know those little green grass snakes that you see
in the spring and early summer. They are really neat
and I used to play with them all the time when I was a
kid. They eat flies and other bugs and are about as
dangerous as a butterfly. I used to pass many a happy
hour hunting them up and playing with them and then
turning them loose.
One summer when I was 8 years old, I went on summer
vacation with my parents. We went out to West Texas
near the area of Judge Roy Bean's Law West of the
Pecos. I knew it was gonna be a long boring trip so I
decided to take a couple of my slithery little green
pals with me to keep me company. I got a cigar box and
put some fresh grass in it and put in the two grass
snakes, along with a few dead flies that I had swatted
myself that very same morning. It pleased my sense of
propriety that the snakes be a boy and a girl so I
named them Srtikey and Strikietta, respectively...Hey
I was only 8!
Well, I had all my stuff ready to go and my dad was
checking out the car and my mom was packing and
unpacking and repacking and trying to decide how she
wanted to dress for the trip. Looked to me like I had
some time on my hands so I slipped down to the bayou
at the edge of the neighbor hood. I got down in the
bottom and was happy to discover that there was a
stream of water about 6 or 7 inches deep and maybe a
foot wide running at a pretty good clip. I got to
pokin' around in the cat-tails and to my great good
fortune I encountered a rather large soft shell
turtle. I got it up to the top and put it into the
basket on my bicycle and hurried home as fast as I
could. My dad saw me ride up and he saw the turtle. He
wanted to know why I brought it home. I told him that
when we got back I was gonna make a pet out of it. He
said I could put it in a wash tub and he laid a piece
of window screen over it and a 2X4 on top of that. I
put some old lettuce and bread and stuff in there and
figured he be fine while we were gone.
By that time my mom was ready and I gave the turtle
not another thought.
When we got into the car to leave home for our
vacation, I surreptitiously slipped the cigar box,
grass, snakes, flies and all, into the back seat of
the car with out my parents being any the wiser. I
spent the first couple of hours of the trip
entertaining myself in the usual ways a young boy will
when on a long boring car trip: eating, coloring, and
irritating the devil our of my parents. "How long till
we get there?", "How many more turns". "I gotta pee."
I was saving the snakes for when I was desperate and
had nothing else to do.
When I had waited what I felt was a respectable length
of time,(I had been warned by my dad to sit back and
be quiet. We wouldn't be there for hours yet, I didn't
need anything else to eat, he didn't know how many
more turns and I could pee when we stopped for gas,
like every body else!) Further conversation was not
encouraged.
Taking the hint, and knowing I was left to my own
devices, I went to check my snakes. The box was empty.
Emmmmp-ty! Just some grass, 2 of the flies, and that
was all. I tried to be as discrete as possible,
looking on the floor, under the front seats, etc.
Finally old Hawk-eye (we just called her MOM )
noticed me squirming around and looked over the back
of the front seat and wanted to know what I thought I
was doing. My answer lacked diplomacy, among other
things. I think I said something like, "why, I'm
lookin' for my snakes...you ain't seen 'em up in the
front, have ya?"
With the exception of a blow out, I can't ever
remember my dad getting into the break-down lane and
coming to a complete stop in less time or distance.
Mom was literally on the ceiling of the car. I never
new that the human voice could attain such a high note
and hold it so long, either. It was one of those
noises that you know you must escape immediately,
regardless of the cost or consequences, or suffer
permanent hearing loss and brain damage. It was my
first experience with such a noise and I was in a
total panic.
We never found the snakes. I suppose that when all the
hollering started they experienced a complete and
forever shattering of the nervous system and as soon
as a door was opened (three of the four doors were
open, by the way) Dad made his escape from the drivers
door, Mom went out the passenger door, after getting
back down off the ceiling, and I dove head first from
the right rear. I expected my ears to start bleeding
any second.) the snakes probably slipped quietly out
and away some place nice and quiet to die of sonic
shock.
We eventually resumed the trip but conversation was
tedious the rest of the day and I was admonished to
leave the critters at home in the future.
The turtle? When we got home it was pretty late at
night and I was asleep in the back seat. Mom got out
to hoist up the garage door and when she did the smell
of that turtle, several days dead, nearly knocked her
back down the driveway all the way to the street.
When Mom was done shaking me awake I got a good grip
on my nose and went into the garage, turned on the
light and looked in the wash tub. There was that old
turtle, dead and really ripe. also in the tub were 4
fairly good sized oblong eggs. I was advised that
sometimes it's best not to interfere with Mother
Nature. I was also cautioned not to collect animals to
keep the day before embarking on a 2 week vacation.
Good advice, all.
SNAKES, TURTLES, AND VACATIONS
You know those little green grass snakes that you see
in the spring and early summer. They are really neat
and I used to play with them all the time when I was a
kid. They eat flies and other bugs and are about as
dangerous as a butterfly. I used to pass many a happy
hour hunting them up and playing with them and then
turning them loose.
One summer when I was 8 years old, I went on summer
vacation with my parents. We went out to West Texas
near the area of Judge Roy Bean's Law West of the
Pecos. I knew it was gonna be a long boring trip so I
decided to take a couple of my slithery little green
pals with me to keep me company. I got a cigar box and
put some fresh grass in it and put in the two grass
snakes, along with a few dead flies that I had swatted
myself that very same morning. It pleased my sense of
propriety that the snakes be a boy and a girl so I
named them Srtikey and Strikietta, respectively...Hey
I was only 8!
Well, I had all my stuff ready to go and my dad was
checking out the car and my mom was packing and
unpacking and repacking and trying to decide how she
wanted to dress for the trip. Looked to me like I had
some time on my hands so I slipped down to the bayou
at the edge of the neighbor hood. I got down in the
bottom and was happy to discover that there was a
stream of water about 6 or 7 inches deep and maybe a
foot wide running at a pretty good clip. I got to
pokin' around in the cat-tails and to my great good
fortune I encountered a rather large soft shell
turtle. I got it up to the top and put it into the
basket on my bicycle and hurried home as fast as I
could. My dad saw me ride up and he saw the turtle. He
wanted to know why I brought it home. I told him that
when we got back I was gonna make a pet out of it. He
said I could put it in a wash tub and he laid a piece
of window screen over it and a 2X4 on top of that. I
put some old lettuce and bread and stuff in there and
figured he be fine while we were gone.
By that time my mom was ready and I gave the turtle
not another thought.
When we got into the car to leave home for our
vacation, I surreptitiously slipped the cigar box,
grass, snakes, flies and all, into the back seat of
the car with out my parents being any the wiser. I
spent the first couple of hours of the trip
entertaining myself in the usual ways a young boy will
when on a long boring car trip: eating, coloring, and
irritating the devil our of my parents. "How long till
we get there?", "How many more turns". "I gotta pee."
I was saving the snakes for when I was desperate and
had nothing else to do.
When I had waited what I felt was a respectable length
of time,(I had been warned by my dad to sit back and
be quiet. We wouldn't be there for hours yet, I didn't
need anything else to eat, he didn't know how many
more turns and I could pee when we stopped for gas,
like every body else!) Further conversation was not
encouraged.
Taking the hint, and knowing I was left to my own
devices, I went to check my snakes. The box was empty.
Emmmmp-ty! Just some grass, 2 of the flies, and that
was all. I tried to be as discrete as possible,
looking on the floor, under the front seats, etc.
Finally old Hawk-eye (we just called her MOM )
noticed me squirming around and looked over the back
of the front seat and wanted to know what I thought I
was doing. My answer lacked diplomacy, among other
things. I think I said something like, "why, I'm
lookin' for my snakes...you ain't seen 'em up in the
front, have ya?"
With the exception of a blow out, I can't ever
remember my dad getting into the break-down lane and
coming to a complete stop in less time or distance.
Mom was literally on the ceiling of the car. I never
new that the human voice could attain such a high note
and hold it so long, either. It was one of those
noises that you know you must escape immediately,
regardless of the cost or consequences, or suffer
permanent hearing loss and brain damage. It was my
first experience with such a noise and I was in a
total panic.
We never found the snakes. I suppose that when all the
hollering started they experienced a complete and
forever shattering of the nervous system and as soon
as a door was opened (three of the four doors were
open, by the way) Dad made his escape from the drivers
door, Mom went out the passenger door, after getting
back down off the ceiling, and I dove head first from
the right rear. I expected my ears to start bleeding
any second.) the snakes probably slipped quietly out
and away some place nice and quiet to die of sonic
shock.
We eventually resumed the trip but conversation was
tedious the rest of the day and I was admonished to
leave the critters at home in the future.
The turtle? When we got home it was pretty late at
night and I was asleep in the back seat. Mom got out
to hoist up the garage door and when she did the smell
of that turtle, several days dead, nearly knocked her
back down the driveway all the way to the street.
When Mom was done shaking me awake I got a good grip
on my nose and went into the garage, turned on the
light and looked in the wash tub. There was that old
turtle, dead and really ripe. also in the tub were 4
fairly good sized oblong eggs. I was advised that
sometimes it's best not to interfere with Mother
Nature. I was also cautioned not to collect animals to
keep the day before embarking on a 2 week vacation.
Good advice, all.
