It All Ended with a Rattlesnake

Oops- my blog has become like my journal. Neglected. That is soon to be remedied though, the kids are back to school Tuesday. I am shamefully looking forward to having a little more time on my hands. We have had another very adventurous summer, putting over 5,200 miles on our car  in 6 weeks. I have no immediate plans for a road trip. Until the second weekend in September.  We just got back from our latest reunions with the McClellan family (my mother-in laws side)being the last in Union Oregon. Uncle Dick (Neda's brother) has a cabin there along Catherine Creek. It's a lovely spot surrounded by a very nice piece of grassy property.  As the day came to an end I was scoping out a good spot for the group photo at the back of the cabin.  A blue and white awning on the ground briefly drew my eyes down. It was then that I noticed a 3 foot rattlesnake directly in front of me with his body in a defensive posture. I turned on my heels and I ran. Breathless and shaking I announced to a rather amused audience that I was 99% positive that I had just seen (and nearly stepped on) a rattlesnake.  My two brothers-in law and Scott circled the cabin. I was not interested in returning to the scene but became alarmed that they were going to go "looking"for my slithering friend without my eye-witness assistance. So I did the smart thing & ran back. I found Eric and Kent standing nearly on the spot. Exactly what I was afraid of. I told them to look left and then Scott pointed the rattler out as it slithered into the wood pile. Quite a stir ensued. I was still trying to return to my target heart-rate. I was up-tight. My legs were jello. Uncle Dick had a shotgun in hand. Kids were swarming around. I was thinking there may be more than one. I was thinking we were all a little too close and a little to cavalier. Suggestions about how to get him out were voiced. A family joker (my father in-law) suggested we all take a log off the pile.  

I suggested the front yard seemed like a perfect spot for a group photo.  

Later Scott quietly walked back to the abandoned wood pile just to check. The snake was out- again. Within seconds Uncle Dick grabbed his gun and shot it three times. I was surprisingly sad to hear the first ring of fire. But, mostly relieved.  His body moved for over 10 minutes after he was clearly dead and even coiled itself in defense after having it's head removed. I didn't like this aspect at all. It was at the same time fascinating and somehow unholy to gather around this dead animal. But I understood and agreed with the necessity. All of our children had been back there at some point -some all alone. I was immensely thankful that the awning had drawn my eyes to the ground and that it was me who spotted it and not a child. If I had taken one more step I would have been on top of him. I prefer to look through tempered glass at poisonous things. I have reviewed the scenario in my mind a hundred times. We were blessed. There were a hundred ways that this could have gone wrong, but it didn't. This for me was without question one of those experiences that teach you that the Lord is mindful. You could call it a series of lucky coincidences that it worked out as it did. But, as Gerald Lund says in his book Divine Signatures, "What we call coincidence is God's way of letting himself be known." A good lesson relearned to end summer vacation.

This is my brother-in law Cory holding the dead rattler.

I don't like this photo at all,but I needed proof. Ellie of course was one of the first kids to want to touch it.  (The head is off at this point) Later we had a talk about how dangerous Rattlesnakes are. I also mentioned guns since she ran toward the sound of gunfire and was the first person there after it was shot. Help me.

This is Uncle Dick kneeling next to the snake- eek.