Snake Pit

Today is Memorial Day and I was outside for a while, watering plants, putting out trash, checking the pool.* Here are 4 different snakes I encountered, plus there were at least 2 more  that  slithered away before I could get their picture. I have a theory that the aluminum mobility ramp is serving as a snake incubator; they can safely hang out underneath it and then come out and bask in its reflected heat.  I can only hope they eat ticks, as last year, as pictured somewhere on my earlier blog, I plucked at least 17 off, with at least 3 inflamed sites and 1 positive diagnosis for Lyme Disease. This year's count is 1 tick on me, so far, that I know of.
  It seems each year I buy a new garden hose, the lightweight type that supposedly retracts itself. (Don't believe it.) They need replacing because they are of fabric. The hose holder attached to the front of our house is metal, so I think that may be the reason why the hose deteriorates. So this year,  I again invested in a new hose, but decided to not coil it around the metal hanger, but just lay it on the concrete block. I have to admit that almost every time I walk past it, I get an adrenaline rush. Hoses, snakes---they can appear to be the same.

*By checking the pool (which Joe has opened) I mean looking in and maybe turning on the filter. Today I saw 2 bumblebees floating on the surface,  each separately clinging to a leaf. I had the thought of using the pool skimmer to rescue them, but decided against it, letting nature take its course. That immense, all encompassing Nature, which cares about nothing. Don't personify it by calling it Mother; it has no feelings or humanity.