Independence Day 2009

Well, July 4th has come and gone. I still can't believe it is already July. Where does the time go????

We usually have plans for the long weekend, but for some reason this year we decided not to really go away for the weekend. Luckily, I had Friday the 3rd off as our paid Holiday. I conned Craig into taking me out and doing some of my errands. I wanted to go out to the Cherry Orchards and get some fresh bing cherries and then we decided to go to a garage sale. By the time, we did that and a few other things it was getting really warm outside and we had left in our 34 Plymouth Roadster (which is a convertible of sorts). Some people think riding around in a convertible is really great, but on a hot day, you basically just bake inside it. We went home and cooled off and did a few things that needed done and went for our usual walk.

Saturday morning we got up and got ready and I loaded up a light snack and drinks in the Roadster and we headed to Woahink Lake, which is at the coast near Florence. Craig's brother, Russ, and his wife, Bev had rented a house on the lake and we were invited to come over and visit. We put in heavy coats, because we weren't sure what time we would return back to Roseburg. Let me tell you by the time we actually hit the coast, I was cold and the temperature had dropped about 25 degrees. We pulled over outside of Reedsport and put on our coats. After finding the place where Craig's brother was, we sat on the deck and visited. Our daughter, Becky, was camped up the coast a little ways and had came down to meet us and wake board. Russ and Bev have a really nice boat and the place they rented had it's own dock.


A little later in the afternoon Craig, Bev, Becky and Russ all went out in the boat so Russ and Becky could wakeboard. I decided to sit in the sun and enjoy the quiet time.

Upon returning from wakeboarding, Craig and I decided we had better hit the road for home. The fog had moved in and it was getting colder by the minute. We crawled in the car and headed down the coast. After stopping for a quick dinner at Taco Bell, we headed inland. We weren't off the coast very far when the heat wave hit again and the coats came off.

So, another 2009 Holiday gone and am already looking forward to our next one.

Fears

Where do our fears originate from? Have you ever wondered what frightens you and why? I hate to be frightened and won't even go to a Haunted House at Halloween.

One of my biggest fears are SNAKES. Anyway as early as I can remember, I have never liked snakes. I come from a long line of "snake haters". My grandmother, mom, aunts and I'm sure others never liked snakes and I'm sure that is where it was instilled in me.

I used to visit my Grandma Pierce in Gold Beach a lot. My grandparents had a big yard and it always seemed to have snakes there. If I ever saw a snake I would avoid that area like the plague. Someone told me one time that if you stomp your feet it will frighten them away. So, like a crazy person, I would stand and stomp my feet and then walk through some tall grass. I will do almost anything to keep from being around a snake.

There are some funny stories in my childhood about snakes. One in particular happened in Gold Beach while visiting my grandparents, my grandma and a girl next door, Paula, and myself were out in the yard and grandma was pulling weeds. We were all on our knees and a snake slithers by, us girls jumped back. Grandma started telling us how good snakes were, because they eat bugs, etc. etc. and all the time she was still pulling weeds. Somehow she got hold of that snake in a handful of weeds and pulled it out and saw it and jumped up and screamed and threw the fistful of weeds down and ran for the house with two little girls on her heels. She got inside the house and slammed the door and leaned against it and then I guess she realized what that looked like and just started laughing. I will never forget that story.

OK, where am I going with this story. The other night I was in my big pond cleaning it out. I had lifted out the rocks and put on the side and was scrubbing it all up. I had been in and out of the pond getting things several times. Finally, I got it to a point that I was going to put the rocks I had taken out back in, so I was reaching up and getting them. My pond is a one piece unit that has been dug down and set in, then I have some flat rocks around the edges. I was bending over those flat rocks picking up the round rocks and putting carefully back into the pond on about my third trip for rocks I looked down and there was a little triangle spot between the flat rocks and there was a snake laying in against the pond edge. I freaked and jumped out of the pond and was very mad, because I was so close to being done. I was even crying a little because I let this fear upset me so badly. Now, I can't go near that area, because I don't know where that stupid snake is.

When Craig got home last night I asked him to move some rocks and look for the snake, but the little slithering sob was not there. Ok, so I did what all good snake haters do, I went to the Internet and found a type of "snake catcher" box that the snake will crawl in and supposedly get stuck to the bottom by some glue. You can then release the snake in another area. Right, that is going to happen!!!! I also found some type of powder that is suppose to repel snakes. I told Craig that I bought it in about a 50 lb bag and plan on sprinkling some around the entire perimeter of our property. But, of course, if there are snakes already on the property, they would never leave. This leaves me a dilemna, where to sprinkle?

Will I ever go back to my pond area? That will be hard to say, but I will tell you I am still totally frightened of snakes and probably always will be. I don't know of any fix other than to be blind and then I couldn't see them.