Mama’s near miss, Mama and Kimberlyn, looking up

As often as possible Mama and I have been walking our county road in the evenings. The walk from our front door to the junction with the larger county road to the west and back is just over a mile. Mama struggles at times to make the distance, but she has been faithful to try. It is typically an uneventful walk. We see the same things each evening. Other than avoiding the potholes and other potential tripping hazards, there are no real hazards to watch out for. However, last night as Mama lingered near the creek that runs under our road while I walked the rest of the distance to the intersection and returned, she did not realize she was only a foot or two from a three-foot-long Cottonmouth snake.

I would have looked past it also had not the dogs been warily investigating it. It looked like a small branch. Like so many other that fall onto the road. But something in the approach the dogs were taking to the “branch” got the alarms going in my head. The snake was almost fully stretched out in length. That is unusual. The snake was completely still. That was unusual. It made no attempt to move when the dogs were investigating it. It made no attempt to move when I stood over it to take a picture. All of those are unusual actions. Or inactions. All of those worked in favor of Mama not getting bitten. When I showed Mama the snake, she immediately called the dogs away from it, but she did not panic. Fortunately, the snake was feeling passive. It could easily have bitten Mama where she stood listening to the water gurgling in the creek. It is the first time we have seen a poisonous snake near the farm this year. We know they are out there. We just do not see them very often. Even at the tank on our farm. Hopefully, it will be the last one we see.

Yesterday, Mama and Kimberlyn spent the day together lining out some of the craft items they could make and sell. Some of their ideas are extremely cute. I am reserved in my judgement of the enterprise. Not that I doubt the abilities or creativity of Mama and Kimberlyn to make items that would attract buyers, but we have typically not been good at selling anything – ever. Perhaps this is the beginning of a successful venture, but only time will tell. For the moment they are concentrating on making things that do not require us to buy a lot of supplies. Working with what we have is a great idea for as long as it will last. That way we can actually see what sells before they make a bunch of things that we cannot give away. I should have taken a picture of the Lady Bug Kim painted on a rock to be put with a small potted Aloe Vera. Since we have hundreds of little Aloe Vera plants that need to be rehomed, and hundreds of rocks that can be used in that application, I would love to see that item become a hot seller.

As it stands now, I will continue to disassemble pallets so the wood can be repurposed for craft projects and my shop will be open for use to our crafters as needed. I am continuing to set up the shop, but I have managed to keep all the tools accessible. Band saw, table saw, miter saw, scroll saw, drill press, planer, router, a wide assortment of hand tools, battery powered tools and fasteners. And a wealth of accumulated blocks of wood and pallet boards. We should have enough to get them started in their business, but I will be careful not to buy anything before it is actually needed. They have my utmost support in their venture – to a point.

This morning as I was leaving for work, storms were moving in fast from the southwest, but to the northwest, the sun was shining brightly as it cleared the horizon. The rainbow that that combination of events produced was a nice surprise. When I got near the end of our county road, the rainbow was positioned right above the little Lutheran Church that sits almost directly across from the intersection of our road and the larger county road. I could not resist stopping and taking the photo that line up offered.

It often helps to look up.