Handbag and Book: EEK!!! A Snake #nature #longwalks #MFRWauthor #RB4U #WRPbooks

On Tuesday, I opened the front door

to check for mail and saw what Handsome is now calling--gifts from Amazon. I picked the up and stuck in the corner was a snake. Snake! Yikes!!! Except he really wasn't twenty feet long with sharp flesh-eating fangs. He was this: 

https://dfwurbanwildlife.com/.../rough-earth-snake-yard.../
Thanks to friend Jane for the clarification. From the dfwurbanwildlife site and via Wikipedia, here's a bit about this snake: 

The rough earth snake is found from southern Virginia to northern Florida, west along the Gulf Coast to southern Texas, and north into south-central Missouri and southeastern Kansas. is a small, harmless, secretive, fairly slender snake, 7-10 inches. Hides beneath logs, rocks, or ornamental stones, in leaf litter, or in compost piles and gardens. The species is found in a variety of forested habitats with plenty of ground cover, as well as in many urban areas. It can reach very high densities in urban gardens, parks, and vacant lots. 
I am soooo not a snake fan. And I know I'm not alone. Remember, Indiana Jones hates snakes, and if this big tough-ass thinks no-no-no, I'm with him. 

In a suburb north of where I live, copperheads are sending residents to the hospitals. My friend who lives a mile-ish away has seen a bobcat in her backyard. Mountain lions are frequenting a neighborhood in Colorado where I visit. 

Our staying in place has affected wildlife. Interesting, isn't it? 

Are you seeing a change in nature this spring?


Good news! No snakes in Sommerville days. Just the fun, Hollywood-style cute-meet tales sure to warm your heart. Here's an excerpt from "Raving Beauty:"




Raving Beauty: "I can't believe I let your loony brother, who's tormented me all my life, talk me into this."

With my eye on the teenage competition standing off to one side, I tugged the swimsuit’s leg opening into place to better cover my hip. "Just because I did some modeling in college doesn't make me a pageant diva. Back then, I was incredibly skinny, and clothes fit easily."
               "Daniel is a rat. He took advantage of your third, or was it your fourth, margarita, Kelly?" Maggie Ackerman, my best friend and roommate, adjusted the scarlet satin sash draped across my body. Glittery stick-on letters spelled out Miss Yahoo! Ranch Steakhouse. "Don’t worry. You’re beautiful and will be fine. Now, hold still."

               I watched her pick my brown hair at the crown of my head with an old-fashioned teasing comb. When the eerie suspicion I resembled a scary dame with Big Texas hair from the television show, “Dallas,” I turned my head to avoid the mirror.

               "Close your eyes." She blasted my hair with several short bursts of super freeze-it hairspray. "Now, that ain't goin' nowhere."

Find your happy ever after at: Amazon and KU