Ok, so cliche, but there's good news and there's bad news. I'll start with the bad. Late this morning, I decided I'd do some work in the yard. Increasingly, this is something I really enjoy. I was feeling a bit depressed and decided I'd make myself get out and dig and weed and plant, partly in hopes that it would make me feel better. But there was certainly work that needed to get done too. Anyway, as I rounded the corner, I heard something ruseling in the shrubbery near the garage. I figured it was probably a frog or toad, as there always seem to be lots of them about. When I walked by a second and third time, however, I saw something scurrying away into the shrubbery, something with a tail. Now, if you know me at all, you probably are well aware that I'm positively terrified of snakes. Some would even call it phobic. I mean, I have nightmares about snakes--had one last night, in fact. I don't even like to see them on TV. Well, I decided that this thing with a tail was probably a lizard; lizards I can handle. But I was starting to freak out. So I did what I often do in a near-crisis: I called my dad. I say something like this, "Dad, I know that this isn't a great time, and this is going to sound silly, but there's something in my yard, something with a tail, and I think it's a lizard, but what if it's a snake, what do I do?" And we talk for a second and decided it's probably a lizard. Just about then I look over and see it. It's looking right at me. And guess what--it's not a lizard. It's a snake. Just a small one, black with coral colored stripes running the length of it. And so I'm saying to dad, "Oh my goodness. It IS a snake. It's looking at me." Well, apparently there's not a whole lot I can do about this snake living in my garden. I guess that knowing he's there is good; I can't be totally as surprised by him if I know he's there, right? Anyway, the first bit of good news is this: I didn't have a full-blown panic attack, which happened the last time I saw a snake in the wild. Wait. Is my parent's yard the wild? They live on a golf course. I wasn't happy, and I kept checking to see where he was, but I didn't have a total freak out over the snake. I even decided to call him Ernie, in hopes that naming him will make him seem less threatening. Really, he'd be kinda cute if I weren't positively terrified of any snake.
But the real good news is this: I planted four rose bushes that I bought yesterday. That gives me six in one corner of my yard. Six is enough that I feel like I can now say that I have a rose garden. I still need to do more work in my rose garden; I want to put up some sort of border to set it off from the rest of the yard, and then I want to put in some cedar mulch. But for now, it's good enough. Oh, one of the roses is called Creme Brule, which just makes me happy.
a president, a King
13 years ago
2 comments:
i think ernie is a fabulous name for a snake!
and a rose garden is definitely good news--i'd love to see some pics! ooh and creme brulee sounds delish. we just bought these oversized votives from ikea here to make our room cozy and they're tiramisu scented which means they smell cakey and coffee-y which is yum. kind of like creme brulee so perhaps that's how your roses will smell ;)
I share your pain and your fear. Okay, Ernie is a fab name for a snake. I'll bet women who have been dumped by guys named Ernie truly consider them snakes, so it works. And, let's face it, guys with the name Ernie undoubtedly are women-dumpers. And snakes.
I once threw a hairbrush at my brother when he frightened me with a snake -- even though it was a fake. UGH!
Glad you are planting. I'm back and am chomping at the bit to plant the garden and hanging baskets.
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