AN UNWELCOME VISITOR

Earlier this week my husband had gotten up and gone downstairs for coffee and breakfast while I still lounged in bed😊  Well, I was laying there getting ready to bounce out of bed trying to decide to drag myself out of bed when I saw him standing at the door of our bedroom. 

I waved and then he walked around to my side of the bed and sat down.  All the while I was "wondering what in the world?" He usually goes to his part-time (after retirement) job before I get up or either he’s at his desk reading the news and having coffee when I finally wander downstairs.  (Don’t judge me for not fixing his breakfast…he’s a big boy and after a 40 ½ yr. career he thinks I deserve to sleep as long as I want😊  Thank you, my sweet man.)

Oh…sorry, I can get side-tracked….back to the story!

As he sat down he said, “We had a visitor last night.”  I immediately said, “A mouse?”  (I am deathly afraid of those little devils!).  

“No,” he said.   “A squirrel?” I asked.  (We have had squirrels come down the chimney & get in the house before.)  

“No,” he said, “bigger.”  As my mind was conjuring up what was bigger than a squirrel that could have gotten into our house, he shows me this picture on his phone………………get ready!!!!

YES!!!!!!!  A SNAKE!!!!!!!  Thankfully, not a poisonous one…just an oak snake.  I have seen one in the yard from time to time, but that’s a whole different ballgame.  My husband, my hero, had the snake in a paper bag and ready to take to the woods.  He doesn’t believe in killing snakes that are basically harmless. 

This totally freaked me out because at least a few times a week I will wake up in the middle of the night, go downstairs for a drink of water or just to walk around a few minutes to settle me down so I can (hopefully) go back to sleep.  And….I almost never turn on the lights.   We have lots of windows in the kitchen so there’s enough light from the moon and street lights. 

Can you imagine what I would have done if I had been the one to discover our slinky visitor?  What if I had stepped on it????????????????????  

Well, if that had happened someone would probably have been preparing my eulogy.  It will probably be awhile before I wander downstairs during the night!

We have no idea how Mr. Snake got in, but hubby says it could have been through the vent.  Evidently animals like our house…we’ve had an occasional mouse, a few squirrels, a bird or two, and once even a small bat that flew in when the door was opened.  That little sucker could really fly fast!  I sure am thankful for a husband who takes care of all our unusual and unwelcome guests.

In fact, for many years (back when we were young) our little town hosted a yearly RATTLESNAKE ROUNDUP and guess who picked up and weighed each and every rattlesnake!  Yep…that man of mine.  He also hunted for them.  The live rattlesnakes were each milked for their venom which is used to make anti-venom for snake bites. 

Although the roundup was for a good cause and it also brought lots of people and helped our economy, I never really looked forward to it.  But God sometimes watches over people who don’t have enough good sense not to pick up a poisonous snake!!!!

Who says small town life is boring?? You never know who what may come visit you.