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| From Wildlife |
The biggest excitement this past week has been from snakes. Early this past week, I was leaving one of the microwave tower sites I maintain at work and saw what I thought was a stick in the road. A closer look revealed that the stick was actually a snake. I couldn't tell if it was alive or not, so I stopped the van and got out. The snake did not move. I began thinking it must have been hit by another car on the road and was dead. Not totally trusting my assessment, I kicked some dust at it. That's when I realized the snake was very much alive as it coiled up and prepared to strike at me. I was a safe distance away (out of the strike zone, any way) and I was trying to capture a photo of the snake with my phone while it was still coiled up, but it uncoiled and slithered off into the grass next to the road. The photo above was taken as the snake was fleeing. Examining the photo later, I determined that it was a diamondback rattlesnake. The rattles were missing from the tail, but all the markings were correct. I guess I should be glad I didn't get closer and risked getting bitten. I was pretty far from a hospital at the time.
Today, I was in the back yard of our house and decided to move a pile of wood panels that had fallen over in our grass. I expected to find some wildlife in or under the pile as I lifted it, so I picked up each panel slowly and observed for movement each step of the way. About halfway through the panels, I found three large toads hiding under there. They were so cute, I had to take pictures of them for Pam. Here are some of the better shots:
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| From Wildlife |
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| From Wildlife |
Then, I lifted the final panels to reveal one small brown garden snake. It tried to hide, but I was able to pick it up and move it before it went to hide with the toads. I was able to capture this photo with my phone before he disappeared:
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| From Wildlife |
It is fun to see what kind of wildlife lives all around you. It is a little creepy, too. I always worry about the kids discovering something before I do. Especially if it is something harmful, like a poisonous snake. So far, those have not been found around the house, but I have found and killed a large rat snake in the back yard before.
In family news: We're all doing fine. Pam has a birthday coming up this Monday. I got her something special and she won't let me give it to her early. She wants to wait for her actual birthday. I can admire that, but I sure would like to give her this gift early!
Abby is still doing very well in school. Her social calendar is filling up and Pam has loads of activities lined up for her this summer. It sure is nice being a kid.
David is still being a two year old in every way. He can be very cute and really turn on the charm, then he can turn right around and be very difficult. Pam occasionally tells me via text messages to my phone whenever David draws attention to himself by throwing fits in public places, like Abby's school. David has a couple of obsessions at the moment. He won't stop talking about "vacuums" and he is addicted to "Barney the Dinosaur." He wants to watch Barney all the time. We limit TV viewing on both the kids on most days. Abby is used to the restriction and is usually pretty cheerful about finding something else to do. David on the other hand will get really sad if you tell him he can't watch Barney when he wants to. We remain firm and hope he finally gets the message.
Both kids are looking taller and older now. Pam and I have both noticed how much they both have changed since the start of the year. They both look taller and their faces look more mature than before. It is scary and fun all at the same time.
I haven't done as much with the music lately. We always seem to have a lot of stuff going on and since we got on Facebook, I'm always finding reasons to spend more time on the laptop in the evenings. I need to get back into a regular practice routine. I picked up the banjo today to see if I could play a Gospel song that Abby said her music teacher would like me to play. I think I can learn it, but I need to spend time practicing or I'll never be confident enough to play it in front of anyone. I have been playing the guitar a lot more when I do sit down to practice. I'm trying to learn to "flatpick" Bluegrass style. I've always been a strummer and only dabbled at picking tunes. Now, I'm trying to focus more energy on the flatpicking side so I can start doing more lead work and be more effective when jamming with strangers. Speaking of that, I have been invited to jam with a bunch of guys up in a town 20 miles north of here next Saturday. I'm not sure if I'm going, yet. I may not make up my mind until that day.
More news later. Thanks for checking in!
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