Just Outside Your Door:  Garter Snakes

Just a quick post this morning.  Yesterday, to celebrate Mother's Day and the glorious weather, we made our first trip of the season to our camp and I worked.  It's what I wanted to do.  It's what makes me happy.  I love being there.  It's not much to speak of.  A small building on a postage sized piece of water frontage.  

But it's everything to me.  My families feet have touched that ground for 70+ years, six generations!  My great-grandmother and grandfather bought the property, back in the early 40's.  My great-great grandmother visited there.  Today my children spend time there.  With any luck, I may have grandchildren one day who will also.

I have, however, digressed.  Yesterday, Dad raked the winters accumulation of pine needles off the roof.  I raked them from the side of the camp.  In the process, a garter snake slithered across my path.  

I confess, I shrieked, like a girl, because I am.  I'm not scared of garter snakes.  I was, however, startled by it's sudden appearance.

I stood still and just watched it for a minute.  It stood still and just watched me.  When we both seemed to come to some peacable moment, it simply went on it's way and slithered underneath the building.

This made me wonder, what can we learn from the snake.  As Christians, we have so many negative thoughts connected to snakes.  They can't be all bad, right?  Job 12:7- 8 tells us to listen and learn from creation.  Snakes are pretty amazing creatures, really.  

Today, I'm adding the garter snake to my journal.  

So, have you taken a look around your yard?  What is there in nature, right outside your door?