sarah agnes prine take two

you know who sarah agnes prine is right? no? click here and buy "these is my words" today. and then, when you are done, reread it like i did. my lovely friend brooke thought real hard about what i would want for my 31st birthday and concluded that a good book and a treat were just the thing. she even stretched herself and got a treat without chocolate so i could fully enjoy and indulge.(chocolate has been poison to me this pregnancy:() so indulge i did and love i do sarah agnes prine.
i think about her (fictional i know)life and feel strength. so as the snake situation was unfolding, with my pregnant belly, i just felt a little sarah in me. i kept joking that while i was getting ready for my evening of cooking for a gathering of women, i was going to put on my green rubber boots and strap a shovel to my waist to keep my assets all safe and protected from the visitor.

this morning i sat around with wet hair in jammies after my shower. i needed to not be needed today, so all i did was answer the phone. first a salesman, and then kaylene.

my dear sweet, i want to be like her when i grow up, neighbor, kaylene called. usually she flows on the phone when we talk, she just kind of paused this time. she finally got out that she had a visitor about an hour after my visit with the slithering fellow. she was innocently gardening in her lot kitty corner adjoining mine that is separated by a fence. pulling weeds, admiring the handy work of the harvest when she nonchalantly looked over to see the biggest reptile she could imagine. overcome with disbelief about the size of the middle of this snake, her screams brought out neighbors inside their homes. her own flesh and blood thought she had discovered a body in the garden. something atrocious for sure.

she was so startled to look over and see this visitor's middle, that she didn't even get a look at it's head or tail. her son went out and confirmed that the tail was indeed a pattern of stripes and not rattles. it didn't matter to kaylene. she declared that the garden was closed. weed patch it was the rest of the year and no one was allowed out ever never ever.

she confided to me that she has come across rattlers without such a reaction, but the sheer monstrous size of that snake took her hours to calm down from. that and i am sure the proximity to her were her undoing. she was still shaky recalling the incident to me this morning.

right after her call this morning alaska called me. he laughed at the incident because he is after all mountain man. he recollected about 25 run ins with rattlers thru the years. some have lurched at him after he provoked them, never bitten him. he attested to their non aggressive ways stating that they have to be provoked incredibly to get a bite. i am sure that is what that bear fella said before he was eaten alive too. beware alaska brother, beware!

his story of the week involved his camping trip last week where he had a black bear running thru the campground and how his biggest concern was all the good gourmet food they had brought up was going to get eaten. he was packing that stuff up faster than he was looking to see where the bear was headed or mace for that matter. he has priorities you know.

so there you have it, my sarah agnes prine tale. kaylene confirmed that it was large, maybe 4 feet with a middle the size of my calf, and that is no tall tale.