What Is Spring Without A Snake?

Yesterday when I was mowing the yard I saw this snake all coiled up in an evergreen bush in the front yard. I threw on a pair of gloves and tried to catch it but it took off. Today when I left, it was out there again. I picked up Elliott and while we were at Staples, we saw a big plastic container of cheese balls on clearance sale. So I told him if that snake was still there when we got home, we would dump the cheese balls into Ziploc bags, catch the snake and put it in the container. Whether we caught the snake or not, I figured I couldn't go wrong with a big container of cheese balls. So we got home and sure enough, there it was. So we ran in, dumped the cheese balls into bags, wiped out the excess cheese powder, and headed out on our expedition. I put on some thick leather gloves and Elliott manned the container.

I missed snatching it on my first grab and it scurried around under the bushes. I went in after it and finally found it again curled up in another bush. When I grabbed it, it tried to bite me over and over but it didn't get through the gloves. I put it in the container, put the lid on, and then poked some holes in the lid so it could breathe. We took these pictures and I sent them to a professor at UD who has helped me identify snakes I have caught before and he said it was an Eastern Garter snake. I kept it in the garage until Ashleigh could see it and then let it go. About 2 feet long. I have other pictures of it on Facebook.

Elliott had more X-rays today and another appointment with the surgeon. There is calcium starting to fill in the break in his finger and the doctor was happy. He doesn't have to go back for a month now.

It was senior night at Ashleigh's lacrosse game last night. She scored again! That is four straight games she has scored. She is very tenacious on defense and when she gets the ball on offense, she charges in and scores! The people in the stands were yelling and on the next play, they were saying, "Pass it to Ashleigh!" The best part was the announcer, which is normally not at the games, saying over the loudspeakers, "Newark goal. Ashleigh Hale. Unassisted. Time of the goal was..." And her name is in the paper. She has two more away games and then is done for the season.

All of a sudden some employment opportunities are coming in that may require some decision making on my part. Feast or famine!