Front Yard Encounter

Terry and I were keeping our beloved adopted grandchildren aka the twins today, as we usually do on Tuesdays while their mom works part time. Almost 4 years ago, I thought I was giving up a few hours a week to help my new friend with her brand new premature twins. It must be said that I was also feeling the effects of my biological grandmother clock, more so having lost my son the year before. Being a mother was my most favorite thing to do and I still had a lot of mothering left in me. Soon Terry became involved helping with the twins and with them having no grandparents and us, having no grandchildren, a very strong bond developed. Giving a few hours a week gave me (and Terry) a boundless gift of joy for a lifetime.

Today, we were spending time in our front yard. The house sits on an acre in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains….actually our last house was in the foothills, and this one is a little higher up so maybe we’re in the Ankles of the mountains. I haven’t thoroughly explored the entire front yard yet and it was a beautiful spring day, just made for being outside. Hannah, the girl twin, is permanently attached to me, just as Noah, the boy, is attached to Terry.

Hannah and I decided to explore the area where there are citrus trees and I was showing her the flowers that would soon become grapefruit. While looking for a ripe grapefruit, I looked down and wondered why we had a toy snake in the ground. The kind of snake that you see in toy stores and if you pick it up at the tail, it’ll wiggle like a real snake. Then I’m thinking we don’t have a toy snake. Maybe it was left by the children of the previous owner. I considered picking it up when I realized it looked awfully good for a toy snake. It was about 4 feet long, all stretched out in the sun coming thru the branches with a beautiful pattern on its brown skin. But it didn’t move. so I stared some more until I saw a little tiny black forked tongue wiggle out of its mouth. Ok, so not a toy snake. In my mind, I’m accessing all the info I know about snakes….what kind we have here in this area, what it looked like, etc. Rattlesnake was the first thing that came to mind. Ok, now I need a plan.

I’m standing in one spot with Hannah across from me and there’s a snake in between the two of us. To me, being 5’2″, four feet seems pretty big . So I’m loudly, firmly telling Hannah to Back up!! Back up!! Keep going!” Then hollering for Terry, who after all these years can identify the tone of my voice to know how serious I am. As he runs towards us, I get Hannah and our two large dogs and run them all to the front door. I didn’t need any heroic actions from the dogs that could kill them.

All this happened in a mere 2 minutes, I think, but it seemed like a lifetime. I marvel as I think how time slowed down while all these thoughts went through my head. I’m a city girl. I rarely encounter anything very dangerous, thank God, but I love the idea of how I mentally went through this file cabinet of my mind, trying to remember and figure out what to do, then deciding on what action to take and doing that without second guessing myself. I’m a big believer of relying on your instincts but I never knew if I would or wouldn’t given a dangerous situation.

Turned out it was a gopher snake , which Terry removed to the field next to us. After reading about gopher snakes, I didn’t feel so foolish as they tend to mimic rattlesnakes in coloring and behavior. They can coil, strike, hiss and shake their tail when provoked. I’ve never been afraid of snakes and have even held them so that wasn’t a problem. Actually, he was quite handsome but unless they’re wearing a sign saying, “I’m one of the good guys,” don’t show any harm toward my little granddaughter or you’ll be a purse or a pair of shoes!

See how “woodsy” the front yard is.

Gopher Snake