It was nice while it lasted...

I really have enjoyed living in rural Appalachia. More so than I ever thought I would.

Until now.

Now, I'm dreaming of moving and devising plans to make it a reality. And I'm serious.

This morning started out great. I made waffles for the little ones. We all worked together during chore-time (even Sophia was getting the hang of things!). Then I decided to take everyone outside for awhile before we started schoolwork.

It's a decision I regret.

I was pulling a happy-happy-happy Sophia in her little red wagon. We came from the garage to the sidewalk towards the porch. I glanced up and saw what I thought was a black rubber tire in the garden bed right next to the porch steps. I thought, that's weird. One of the kids must have left a toy or bike outside. I better get that.

But I didn't. Instead, that "toy" almost got me. Yes, that's right. It wasn't a toy of any sort. It was my nightmare.

A SIX FOOT LONG BLACK SNAKE.

Thankfully, it's head poked up before I got close enough to touch it. I screamed and high-tailed it out of there, giving Sophia the ride of her life over the grass to get back to the garage. Joshy came running to see it, but I yelled at him to get back into the house. I shut the garage door and we all made it inside. We were all shaking, and Sophia was none too happy to be inside again.

Joshy was itching to get back outside while I frantically tried Eric's work phone, Eric's cell phone, and my friend Amber's phone (Amber loves snakes, so I thought maybe she could tell me more about this one). No answer at all.

Finally I told Joshy he could go on the porch, wearing his high rubber boots, and peer down to see if it was still there (I had noticed, while I was freaking out, that it had nonchalantly began to slither away). He and Mari headed out. He said it wasn't there.

Sigh of relief.

"No, Mama," he yelled back inside. "It's not in the garden bed. It's hanging out near the side of the house now."

GREAT.

Still shaking, I grabbed my camera from him as he came inside (I had wanted him to take a photo so Eric could see). I walked to a window and looked down into the grass.

Definitely a snake. Definitely horrible.

I snapped two photos as it slowly slithered away. I even got a video. But I'm not about to post them unless Eric does, because I'm not going to look at those photos again. Or you can email me and I'll have Eric email them to you.

Have I mentioned I'm deathly afraid of snakes? In case you couldn't tell.

We kept our eyes on it as long as we could as I wanted to make sure it went far, far away (I was still incredibly frightened, but at least we were inside), but we lost sight of it somewhere in our side yard. Right about where we play baseball, let the kids climb trees, and have picnics.

I told Eric when we moved here that I would stay as long as I don't see a snake. Well, I told him he'd better put in for a transfer, or he's going to miss the rest of us!

In retrospect, I'm glad I was the first one to come upon it. I mean, I wish Eric would have found it, but of the people who were home, I guess I'm the best candidate. I can't imagine what would have happened if any of the kids, especially Sophia, would have ventured near it (it was in the part of the garden we let Sophia dig in). These snakes aren't poisonous, but they will bite.

And they're evil besides.

Anyone know of any good Chemical Engineering jobs in Minnesota?

P.S. Lest you think I'm exaggerating, I originally estimated it at 3 feet long. When Eric saw the picture, he said it was more like 6 feet long. I actually thought that too, but then just figured I overestimated in my fright. But he's right.