It's not that I don't like snakes. They're OK. In a slightly disturbing way. I don't even mind if we own one, as long as it's never, ever in any way my responsibility... and it stays in its habitat when I'm alone with it.

On Thursday, I took the kids to the library to see a reptile specialist who does shows for children. His name is Rick The Reptile Guy, and the kids LOVED him! He had all sorts of amphibians, and reptiles, and quite a few snakes.

He and his wife, Sara, showed off the animals, and then carried them around to let the kids touch them and see them up close. There were about 30 kids there, and I think they would have stayed there for a week listening to him talk about all the neat animals he brought and waiting to touch them.

I, on the other hand, was very content taking pictures and making sure none of my kids got eaten or squeezed to death. While Rick's lovely and patient wife Sara was showing Tiernan their red-tail boa constrictor, Topanga, Rick was getting an enormous snake (over 10 ft long) out to show the kids. I was snapping this great picture of Tiernan holding Topanga, when I heard Rick call for Sara.



Rick sounded a little concerned, and he had a gigantic snake in a room full of children. Since I was standing right there I said, during what can only be described as a complete loss of forethought, "Is there something I can do to help?" She replied, "Sure, can you hold her for a minute?" and plopped this big snake right into my hands! I think my answer was something like, "Gahk," which I said eloquently to her back as she scooted off to help her husband.

So, there I was, with a full-on case of the creeping willies, and I soon found my problem was only getting worse! Not only was I dealing with holding a 5 foot long snake that only moments ago I had considered myself very brave to give a cursory poke to with one finger (for my children's sake, I was just fine without it) but now all of a sudden I was inundated with KIDS! Topanga was a KID MAGNET! As much as I really didn't want to be holding her, I certainly didn't want to be the crazy lady who dropped her, or lost her in the library.

All of the kids were very polite, and were taking turns, quickly passing the snake back to me to pass to another kid. Snakes are strange enough as it is, but when they're flying around a circle of kids in midair like the sweet potatoes no one can get enough of at Thanksgiving, you get an even weirder view. I kept getting her given back to me backwards from how I handed her off, so just when I thought I figured out which end was the front I'd end up with a face full of snake butt, and vice versa. I wouldn't normally pay any attention, but she was kind of fast and I needed to know which direction she was headed so that I could make sure I was headed that way, too!

After a few minutes of this, Sara returned to retrieve Topanga, and the activity moved on with her.

I realize that this story could have a really heartwarming ending. I could finish up by saying that now I realize that snakes are really wonderful, and I'm so glad that this happened because it gave me the opportunity to learn more about them and now we're off to go buy our own snake because I've decided to join the circus and be the Snake Charmer Lady. But, this is my blog, and the story ends my way, which is firmly in reality. The only lesson I took from this experience is to NEVER offer to do anything helpful when you're in the presence of a 5 foot long snake.

PS-Yes, that is Tiernan's "Extra Grover" scarf on the floor at his feet. He wore it that day, even though it was in the 60s, and had only taken it off at that point because he was playing "snake" with it in between reptiles that came around. So, at least it's getting lots of good use, scarves finished in May so rarely do...