Welcome Home Committee

A few months ago, Diablo got a hold of the sizeable black snake that had been slithering outside, occasionally stopping on the concrete walk beneath the two cats' noses, but safely on the opposite side of the screened porch. Diablo’s reaction to this languid teasing was to drop into the hunting position while Phoenix, always the wiser of the two felines, flattened her ears and took more of a defensive posture.

One afternoon I let Diablo out for a supervised gecko patrol. Lounging beside the dock while she snooped under the bushes looking for GEICO representatives, my attention to her hunt relaxed until she took off after something. I figured it was a fat lizard. It turned out to be the black snake hell bent on escaping the fanged tabby’s pursuit.

She managed to yank its tail before I could snag the leash she wore. When I pulled her out of the bush, she brought the serpent with her. Fortunately, she dropped it and it coiled up into a tight ball of scales. I’ll this fieriness from a cat who is scared to death of Dad’s garden hose.

As I unloaded the Jeep I met the snake on the front sidewalk. He struck a pose as quickly as I did. I suggested he turn tail which he finally did after I faked a “shoo” at him. But when I returned with baggage in hand piled to my chin, I caught him making his way through the grass on his originally intended course. Bold.

Sixty laps in the pool under the Florida sun. Meeting with Tarpon Springs Writers Group. Lunch at Danny K's...life is coming back. And the good news was I only gain half a pound.