Snake in the grass

I've been blogging away and trying to catch up on some stuff here, so the excitement of the week was seeing a big ass snake in the tree roots next to the driveway. I saw only the tail when I was coming down with the mail. I almost picked it up to see what the funny looking black stick was. I didn't exactly run when I figured out it was a two foot long snake but I didn't stick around either and I haven't been down the driveway since.

I've done some investigation since then and I believe it's probably a common black rat snake, non-venomous thank God. Guess I'll go out and check the mail after all today.

That's the hardest part about being in a place so strange. I don't know what's dangerous here and as a consequence I'm terrified of bugs and snakes. They tell me even the ticks here carry a deadly disease much more serious than the Lyme up north.

On a brighter note however, I discovered when I was having my evening beer on the screen porch that I have lightning bugs. I love those.