I have had two encounters with snakes in my path in the last 48 hours... it isn't as cute and there were no one liners..

The first one happened while walking with my friend Grendel in the back area where I was housesitting... It was near dusk, but not quite.. the sun was just behind a ridge but plenty of light... We were looking for Mormon Tea, and I was looking at the ground as I walked but it was open enough that I felt safe. I took one step forward, lifted my other foot and saw a movement in the top corner of my eye... It was a snake picking up his head, and the tail had a faint rattle I could barely hear because I was so busy trying to process the moment... I have NEVER squealed like a girl before at things like this, but it was so unexpected, caught me so off guard... One more step and I would have been on top of the motherfucker... Some snakes just look like rattlers for defense, and those are the ones I usually stumble across... This one was really a rattler...

One step more... I didn't even see it... he blended in with the rocks so well, tucked in between three short scrubby tumble weeds.

Today while mowing and chopping the incredible growth of weeds and grasses around the house, I tried to keep my mind aware of the snake factor,especially after the last incident.. I got into that zen mowing mode and it kind of slipped my mind. I got up close to the edge of the house and all of a sudden a snake head stands up and i, well... i dropped the mower and jumped back yelling "rattlesnake rattlesnake"... he had the same coloring, but different markings and different head.. but when you see anything close to a rattlesnake in color and it is too close you tend to react and run first, look back and identify later...

Two snakes.. First one venomous, potentially very bad situation... second one just a simple snake, a beneficial snake... but still.. a snake i didn't see until i was close enough for harm had he not been a mellow nonvenomous thing...

Must learn to walk with more vigilance...

Snakes on a plane may be cute, but snakes in the yard are definitely something completely different.