August 11, 2001

A couple of years ago, I was sitting on a drystone wall weeding the bed next to it, when I spied a beautiful, charcoal gray tail (remember the year when charcoal gray and pink were the coolest combination in the world?). I took it between my fingers and pulled: The other end was the head of the cutest, most astonished little ring-necked snake you've ever seen! When I let go, he immediately poked his head back into the wall, so I pulled him out again. This time, he turned and fled with an expression of high dudgeon on his back. Well, this year, he's trying another ploy. When I got into the pool on Thursday, there he was swimming in an elegant s-shape. Mel put him out, but we felt guilty, because it was so hot. Yesterday he returned, so he must not have suffered any harm from the Baquacil we use instead of ozone-layer-unfriendly chlorine, although the frogs that jump in don't survive. I'm not too fond of pit vipers, but garter snakes and ring-neck snakes are welcome any time. Yesterday, we dug up some wild butter-and-eggs (miniature yellow and white snapdragons) and put them in the front flower bed, where their flowers and gray-green foliage show up to advantage against the drystone wall. When I went walking in the meadow this afternoon, the tiny (2-mm) blue and white wild lobelia were blooming their heads off and the wild mint was also in exuberant bloom. We are now at the point where we have to remind ourselves to enjoy every minute that is left of the summer.