I stepped on a 6-foot long black rat snake BAREFOOT when I was seven years old- on the farm where we lived. I’m 60 now, and can still feel that snake under my foot. I’ve tried, Richard!
Fun read, thank you! It's fun to see rat snakes' kinked bodies on the wall or taking some sun in the grass. Of course, here in SE NC, rat snakes (and ropes, garden hoses, etc.) are regularly mistaken for copperheads. Not that any snake should have to fear the shovel!
What a lovely essay on overcoming primordial fears to reach appreciation and moving through the wonder in daily life! Thank you for writing this, Richard! All Best from Loa Angeles
Thanks to Jessica G for catching a typo and a syntax error in this column! ("Flare" is the verb, not "flair.") I fixed both, and invite all readers with keen eyes to let me know if they spot other errors.
I’m impressed by your writing and your perseverance in an often indifferent world of self-styled critics and gate-keepers. As one artist to another, I respect you!
Bravo again, Richard! I've been a fan of snakes since boyhood. A few years ago I saw a five-foot blacksnake by the side of the road on my way into Deep River. Yeah, I pulled over, grabbed it and eased it into a shopping bag I had in the car. I took it home (okay, I kidnapped --er, snakenapped-- it, but home was only a few hundred yards back up the road) and introduced it to our mice population, to their dismay. Thanks for being a fellow fan of these handsome beasts.
Thank you, Evan. Yeah, that was our experience when we lived there. Up here in the hills, I've seen a northern ring necked snakes just once, DeKay's brown snake a couple of times, and rat snakes often. Oddly, no garter snakes so far.
Oh, and a water snake, not on the property but up the road on one of the land trust trails. And a garter snake by the bridge over the Eight Mile River. But that's back down at sea level.
I stepped on a 6-foot long black rat snake BAREFOOT when I was seven years old- on the farm where we lived. I’m 60 now, and can still feel that snake under my foot. I’ve tried, Richard!
My sympathies, Cyndi, for you and the snake. Keep trying!
Fun read, thank you! It's fun to see rat snakes' kinked bodies on the wall or taking some sun in the grass. Of course, here in SE NC, rat snakes (and ropes, garden hoses, etc.) are regularly mistaken for copperheads. Not that any snake should have to fear the shovel!
What a lovely essay on overcoming primordial fears to reach appreciation and moving through the wonder in daily life! Thank you for writing this, Richard! All Best from Loa Angeles
Thank you, Rebecca. You'd be impressed to learn how many magazines declined to publish it.
Gosh, really? I loved it!
Thanks to Jessica G for catching a typo and a syntax error in this column! ("Flare" is the verb, not "flair.") I fixed both, and invite all readers with keen eyes to let me know if they spot other errors.
I’m impressed by your writing and your perseverance in an often indifferent world of self-styled critics and gate-keepers. As one artist to another, I respect you!
Much appreciated, Rebecca.
Bravo again, Richard! I've been a fan of snakes since boyhood. A few years ago I saw a five-foot blacksnake by the side of the road on my way into Deep River. Yeah, I pulled over, grabbed it and eased it into a shopping bag I had in the car. I took it home (okay, I kidnapped --er, snakenapped-- it, but home was only a few hundred yards back up the road) and introduced it to our mice population, to their dismay. Thanks for being a fellow fan of these handsome beasts.
Very good article, Dick. Unfortunately, we have very few snakes down here by the shore. We rarely see them and they are usually garter snakes.
Thank you, Evan. Yeah, that was our experience when we lived there. Up here in the hills, I've seen a northern ring necked snakes just once, DeKay's brown snake a couple of times, and rat snakes often. Oddly, no garter snakes so far.
Oh, and a water snake, not on the property but up the road on one of the land trust trails. And a garter snake by the bridge over the Eight Mile River. But that's back down at sea level.