Hisssss

Dear You,

I'm sheltering again this season in Florida and have not written a single blog in a couple of months. I clung to old habits in this interim, writing blog ideas on little scraps of paper -- as a consequence I have a stack of odds and ends in my top drawer. Perhaps they will become blogs; probably not.

Today I am enjoying a little bit of quiet -- the Visitors are off to the beach, not to return until supper-time. So I took my laptop to the lanai (that's a screened porch for everyone in Elsewhere) and worked a little more on my taxes. I was distracted soon thereafter by the Backyard Resident. The neighbors say he's a Black Racer (I think; my degree in herpetology has not come through), about 2-3 feet long (I think; he's always sort of curvy, so any thought of getting out a yardstick is probably useless), and -- I mean this -- very beautiful. No wonder Eve was tempted.

He lives somewhere in our house. Well. His shelter is under a sort of folded metal thing at the base of the lanai, so actual entry into the house is quite unlikely. (This is what I've promised to other residents and visitors; I cross my fingers about it.) During the day he is out and about, and he's pretty quick about retreating before any approaches. Just like the ones in the zoo, he's there to be seen, not petted.

I like him very much. Twice so far he has left his transparent, shedded skin for me to find -- I keep them on a hook in the garage to show to the grandchildren. Oooooo, hissssss!