Cliff and I didn't walk this morning, since thunderstorms were passing through. Sadie and I waited until this afternoon to head out to the pasture. I was barefoot. So was Sadie, for that matter. As we rounded the corner of my cabin we scared up a squirrel, so my dog had an exciting chase. Of course she didn't have a chance of catching him, but it's all about the chase. A little further on, I saw what I thought was a tiny dead snake, and bent over to investigate. I keep an eye on the ground when I'm not wearing shoes, trust me. He was all curled up, not making a move. Sadie happened to see me checking something out and came to investigate, hoping perhaps I'd found a stick to toss for her.
You may need to click on the picture to make it larger. I decided to poke it with a twig, checking for signs of life. Oh, it was alive, all right. And a vicious little creature he was, curling back and striking for all he was worth.
Once I got him moving, Sadie realized it was something alive and played with it for awhile. If you stick through the video for all twenty-six seconds, you'll get a glimpse of the snake.
And then, Sadie topped off a perfect walk by carrying home a stick for me to toss later.
Speaking of the basement: The lodge had its own power plant until the forties when rural electricity was finally installed. The lights were direct-current.
That's the huge coal furnace; it really didn't look this color, but it was so dark I had to use flash.
As we passed through a small passageway toward the stairs out of the basement, I noticed what I thought was a rubber snake....
but it was real! A black snake about six feet long.
As long as we get an occasional rain, there should be some blackberries in July, as evidenced by these blossoms. Berries will be welcomed, since so much of this year's local fruit crop was wiped out by several nights of hard freezing.
The new stray and Sadie enjoy an occasional game of tug-of-war. My daughter is going to take Stray for a trial visit this weekend. If she proves to be house-broken, they'll keep her. I have to say, she's a much nicer dog than Sadie. She isn't very wise when it comes to motorized vehicles, though. If she ends up staying here, she's liable to get run over.
One morning she followed the granddaughters on the school bus. How embarrassing.
This picture was taken May 9, when the Missouri River was at it's highest flood stage.
This is the same area a day later. The road on the near side of the bridge is now dry.
This big black snake was crossing the road last night when I went for a horseback ride. He was about six feet long.
Can you see the River otter sticking his head up, a little above the center of the picture? This is on the back of our place, which is usually dry land.
I clipped the picture to give a better view of the otter; now you can make him out. I mistook him for a beaver, but more knowledgeable people pointed out my mistake. There were four of these critters showing off, but they moved so fast, this was the only picture I was able to get of any of them.
The same area today. The base of the tree that was under water two days ago is back on dry land.
Our back fence had all been under water, but today I could see the tops of the posts.
