Cross One Off the Bucket List

Good spot to read during rainstorms

Earlier in the week during yet another rainstorm
I was curled up on the
new-to-us-Paul-and-Kate-won't-need-it-anymore loveseat--
reason here --
reading James Barrie's Peter Pan
and came upon the line
"Would you like an adventure now
or would you like to have your tea first?"

I like to think that I am always ready for adventure.
Earlier in the month
I went with my friend Leslie
to the Episcopal church's "Trunk to Treasure" sale
and found a bucket with pockets.
I am a sucker for any organizational gizmos
and upon returning home
immediately washed out the dead spiders
and filled it with jeep adventure essentials
Yes, if you haven't heard,
Gilda the Adventure Car is gone.
See link here.
...essentials like Sharpie markers and paint,
wire and wire cutters,
tape and scissors,
granola bars and dog treats,
leather gloves,
quick mix cement,
a garbage bag,
shovel,
towel and toy boat and three swim noodles
(used to be four but one blew out),
bug spray and aloe and hand sanitizer,
and two parafoil kites
which don't fly as well as you would think out of an open jeep,
but when they do,
oh! So cool!

The bucket

This morning
was what all mornings should be:
an adventure morning.
I dressed in a no-waist dress
(comfort,
plus yesterday's surprise--
I am three pounds over pregnant-with-a-nine-pound-baby weight,
part of the reason I needed an adventure today)
and a foldable sunhat
(hoping for sun,
covers up mischievous hair)
and Croc sandals
(go anywhere!)
and set off in the jeep toward Clearfield.
Two miles down the road
I saw the Rockton Mountain rock man we call Gouger
and decided that he needed hair.
I wired some mountain laurel twigs to his head,
easily snapped off
because the power company
SPRAYS the mountain laurel on its right-of-ways,
grrrrr,
then walked down the hill
to get a better look
and build a rock stack
when I saw a black snake
sinuously paused
about eight feet away.
Not a blacksnake
but a black phase rattlesnake
about four feet long
and an inch and a half in diameter.
Mid-sized.
I stopped. 
I have seen rattlesnakes before--
along the fence,
crossing the highway,
one along our sidewalk became Luke's third birthday entertainment--
but those snakes I had seen with a group.
This one I found alone,
by myself,
an experience that was on my bucket list.
Yay!
I wanted to make him rattle
so I reached down
and picked up a small chunk of wood
and tossed it near him.
He coiled up and buzzed.
When he was quiet,
I tried it again.
He could buzz longer than I could hold my breath.

Den says he takes his pictures in his mind
but dang,
I wanted a real picture.
I own no cell phone
and the camera was two miles away
on my desk.
"Look before you leap"
has never seemed so appropriate
as I jumped the ditch
and raced home.
Five minutes later
I was back with the camera
and a London teacup
to make James Barrie proud

but the snake had disappeared.
Maybe tonight a bear will come.

The snake was in front of the rock beside the teacup