The other day I was taking a walk on the lakeshore path at
lunchtime, and I saw a strange little animal scurry across the path in front of
me. It was very round and very slow, and it took me a moment to realize it was
an extremely fat and disoriented mouse. Maybe it was so fat because it was
hibernating, and something foisted it from its burrow. It was so poky that I
could have grabbed it. I didn’t, but there are plenty of raptors in the
neighborhood (I have even seen a bald eagle!) so it probably didn’t last too
long. Seeing it reminded me of a long-ago time when I was in college, and some
girls and I were renting an old house with a garden. Two of them were digging
in the garden early in the spring, and they came across a hibernating snake, so
they brought it to me. I was delighted and took the snake from them, and it
wrapped itself around my arm, probably enjoying the warmth of my skin. It was
just a harmless little snake, and I love all creatures, so it didn’t
strike me as strange that they had brought it inside to show me. What did
puzzle me is that they seemed disappointed – hadn’t they hoped that I would be
happy with their discovery? They took the snake back and put it out in the
garden, seemingly dispirited, and it was only much later that it occurred to me
that they thought I would be horrified if they brought a snake inside and held
it out to me. I guess they didn’t know me very well! It takes more than a snake
to scare me.
Famous Hat
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