Am I In High School Again?

For the past couple weeks, whenever Kent goes into our backyard, I start having flashbacks. You see, we had a fun little friend that took up residence in our green grass. Just a cute little garden snake- about a foot and a half long with a light green stripe down his back. Sweet little thing, really. But apparently Kent, in all his manliness, is just a teeny bit afraid of snakes, and that's putting it mildly. It was comical being in the backyard, with Kent doing some random yard work, or just walking in the grass, and hearing a loud shriek. I swear, it sounded like a high-school girl screaming. It's the only time I have ever heard him sound like that, and I'm sure it's the only circumstance in which I ever will.

So I'm cleaning the kitchen, and Kent comes to the back door with a very nervous expression on his face- and holding the snake's tale as far away from his body as he can. So I hurry and grab the camera (and a box as an afterthought) and take a few pics. While I'm taking some pictures, I guess I startled the snake, because he moved a bit, and Kent screamed and dropped him. So after another 10 minutes of trying to catch him again, I bravely snatched him up and plopped him in the box. And Kent takes him a block away to drop him off in the woods.

I tried to get Kent to pose while dangling the snake over his mouth. This was the closest he'd do.

Nope, it doesn't end there. The next day I walked out our front door, and there was the snake- just curled up right on our porch as if he was just stopping by for a visit. I called Kent (as brave as I am, that's a man's thing- akin to mowing the lawn). Kent took one look at him and let out a sincerely devastated, "No way!" But before we could catch him, he slithered away into our bush and we couldn't coax him out. Kent insists it wasn't the same snake, but I think he's grown quite fond of us.

Now he's a little jumpy. He was startled by a frog as he was about to mow the lawn this morning. We'll see how long it takes for Rufus to show himself again (I've decided to name him Rufus- it's the name I give all random animals that find themselves in our yard).