Trellis and other things

You'll never guess what happened to me today. It was just awful. Awful! I shiver now just thinking about it!

I was taking something to the mail box, and on my way back to the house I noticed that my new trellis was crooked. I had gotten it for my beautiful climbing rose bush, but while placing it last night, I was interupted by my neighbor. So today I wanted to straighten it. We had storms last night, so the ground was still a little wet. I was careful not to step where it was too muddy. I had just finished leveling the trellis and had stepped off the landscaping wall when it happened. I was surveying my work, deciding that it needed an extra little tilt when I felt something damp on my foot. Remembering that it had rained last night and that I was standing in grass, I wasn't too concerned at first. When it happened again, I thought to myself, "Gee, I wonder what that is?" A few seconds later, my brain began to work and I looked down.

To my absolute horror and utter disgust, there was a snake slithering right over the top of my bare naked foot! I immediately high-stepped away, screaming at the top of my lungs (with my mouth closed, interestingly enough) and involuntarily shivering from head to toe! Yes, I hate snakes. Yes, I know gardener snakes will not hurt me, but I am afraid of them none the less. It's the slithering that gives me the willies-that back and forth s-shaped wiggle they use to move...ah-woo-ahah...it makes me shiver just writing about it!

My only consolation is that this snake actually looked as frightened by the ordeal as I was. It was circling crazily in the corner by the steps before it reoriented itself enough to slip into my landscaping blocks. It's safe to say, however, that I will no longer be leaving the porch for the remainder of the summer!