I suppose I could blame it on boredom, but I won’t cause I liked camping, I was, well I was just being a normal kid.
Cue your favorite stupid kid music (think cartoon even)
I was delighted when I saw a board leaning up against a little tree, harmless enough. My thoughts, if I had any at all, surely. No surely I thought I can do something neat and fun with that board. Make a doll house, on accounta I loved my Barbie and she was probably in my hand, just saying. Or maybe I could use it for a makeshift stage, I did like singing and dancing, surely I did. La la laa, dum dee dum, tra la dee dum. Ew I could use for playing crazy eights on, yeah that’s it. I so needed that specific board to use as a table for us kids to play cards on. See I told you I needed that neat harmless board.
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| Recreation for your viewing pleasure |
So anyways I reached down and tilted it towards me, maybe there was treasure behind it. Could have been, you know! Daddy did teach me to be a little careful and a good thing too on accounta there was a snake taking a nap behind the harmless board. Hum creepy. So I ever so slowly and quietly put it back and stepped away. ‘Barbie, what should we do?” Stuck up little thing didn’t say anything, so I just skipped away.
After a little time (only minutes really, no surely) some of the other campers nearby told my parents to be careful there had been some snakes spotted nearby. “Yeah”, said I, “and there is one right there behind that board.” Well you would have thought the sky had fallen or little mices were running all around the ground. It was freak out time! My brave daddy went over to the tree and moved the board-S-L-O-W-L-Y- and then,
AND THEN…
He proceeded to stomp on that ol’ snake. No $hit, my dear internets, my daddy stomped it dead. (See this is where I get my crazy a$$edness from) It was scary and funny all at the same time. Ya just gotta picture my daddy in the late, okay mid 70s, wearing a plain white pocket tee shirt,cigarette in one hand-beer in the other, plaid Bermuda shorts (of some crazy color scheme), white socks and black cowboy boots (Texas people). Women and childrens screaming and hollering and jumping up on car hoods and daddy dance stomping around and big snake scared shootless, trying so hard to get away and throwing his rattle around. As if that was gonna scare MY daddy away. Hump!
Needless to say my mother and aunt would not camp at that particular site, no way no how. So we packed up and moved a few sites away. Once camp was made and the folks simmered down, I was chastised for moving the board and for not telling what I had found; while my brother and cousin were toting around the dead 5 foot rattle snake draped over a stick. Stupid boys.
You can find other snakes and me kind of posts here, here, here and yes even here. Does this appear to be some kind of serial thang? Surely there are a few
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9 comments:
You DO have a snakey life history. Mine revolves around bears. And blue rabbits.
Loving the visual of cowboy boots and Bermuda shorts. One bad-ass Dad, gee.
Understanding your wonderful uniqueness more and more as these layers are revealed. :)
xoxo
Oh, the picture you painted as your daddy looked - beer in hand stomping the snake....is delightful in a sick sorta way, lol. By that I mean it's very funny picturing it, yet as much as I am terrified of snakes...I wouldn't stomp it.
Mostly cuz I'd be about a mile away before I'd stop screaming.
Great post, good laugh! Thanks!
Seems that the visual you put up here of your Daddy stomping that snake was a pretty darned vivid one as so far all three of us commenting have been able to conjure up what that must have been like! Funny -yes but also, damned scary too. I'd probably still be running to get away after seeing the darned snake behind that board to begin with!
loved this...oh yeah, I've got some childhood rattlesnake stories, too...involving big bada$$ Daddies, too!
snake I like and they're cuddly
when their tongue tickles my ear
but the ones with pointy eyes
and head are the ones, that I fear
For some reason I can smell snakes when I’m around them. Not sure if it is a sixth sense or I can really smell them.
HA! That made me laugh! Quite a picture you paint, Paige. :D
Paige you have quite the following among snakes! Needless to say I won't be visiting you any time soon.
Elizabeth (wordpress)
Oh my gosh Paige, I am cracking UP at the image of your cowboy boot and bermuda shorts-clad daddy, with cigarette and beer in hand no less, stomping the Bejesus out of that poor little snake. And I needed a laugh this morning so thanks so much!
I had a thing with snakes growing up too. I once stepped on a 7' long copperhead because our grass was so high I didn't see it. It snapped at me, so I screamed and my aunt came running with hoe in hand, like she was standing there waiting for it to happen or something. The imprint of that poor snake's skin is still, to this day, we won't say how many years later, on that rock.
Thanks so much for the memories and the laughs!
I'm lucky there's no poisonous snakes around here in NE out side of occasional water moccasins.
I suppose your Daddy was very brave n protecting you all out of instinct
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