Posts: 206
Threads: 25
Joined: Mar 2004
That is a decent depth of field shooting against the light. I don't think my little Canon pocket camera could do that (SD850).
Reminds me of a time when I was living in rural Macon County, Alabama.
Up late, messing around on the computer, and hear a slight, glassy-sounding "clank" from the other part of the house. Hmmm. Now this is a between-the-wars (that is WWI and WWII) farmhouse constructed with wood beams on pillars with a tin roof, so odd noises late at night weren't exactly unusual. I ignored it. A few minutes later, a louder (and glass-clankier) "clank" rang out from the kitchen area. Hmmmmmmm. Then, there was a huge glass-breaking crash from the other side of the house (there were only 4 rooms plus bathroom). In this part of the state, there was no local law enforcement after dark, and no State Patrol south of Birmingham. I was on my own. I sucked it up, grabbed a firearm (look, I'm not getting into a gun-control debate, but a lot of Europeans don't seem to grasp that there are large areas of this country, including some like this one where you would not expect it, that law enforcement response time is measured in hours...) and went to investigate. Hmmmm. Big-ass broken candy jar (that used to perch atop the fridge) scattered all over my kitchen floor, and no sign of intruders. Hmmmm. Well, I got all excited over nothing. Sheesh. Jar must have "walked" off the top of the fridge, over time, as the compressor switched off and on and I stomped through the kitchen on the bounchy floors, and eventually went to it's doom. Cool. Bummer about the jar, but maybe I shouldn't put stuff I don't know what to do with up there and then forget it for months at a time. Yeah, it must have dumped off right here, because, originally, I set it right about AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
6 foot rattlesnake on top of my fridge at 11 pm in rural Alabama. Coiled around the crap I stack on top of my fridge when I don't know WTF to do with it.
Sweet.
OK. No immediate danger, but, you know, as much as I want to be one with the planet and live that way, you aren't really going to get much sleep with a 6 foot rattlesnake in your kitchen. Not really.
In fact, at this time, I'm pretty sure I'm never going to sleep in this house again unless I kill this snake. Now, I know the snake is just being true to it's nature, and that it's presence in my house probably meant I had prey there in the form of mice or some such, probably because I had been neglecting rodent control, but, at the time, I wasn't really thinking this.
What I was thinking was
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
hmmm, triangle head, marked like a rattler, and rattling
SSSSSSSSSSNNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEE
With big, pointy, teeth. Not to mention the entire venom thingy.
Did I mention the whole, unmanly, "AHHH" thing?
Sorry serpent, I respect your place on earth, but you have to go before I freak out and spend the rest of my life in airports asking for change because I have to keep moving because the SNAKE IS AFTER ME.
Hmmmm. Firing guns inside seems to be idiotic. I don't need holes in my fridge, roof, or walls. I went with the Southpark Kenny look. Carhardt shirt. Canvas jacket. Big poofy jacket over that. Driving gloves. Work gloves. Oven mitts over that. Big-ass long bbq tongs. Go for right behind the head. Know if you drop it you'll never sleep here again. Lots of flop-sweat.
Got poor Mr. Snake right behind the head, took him outside, and ended things.
Still didn't sleep much that night.
Or that week.
Or for a while.
--Cy
