Karen, I'm glad you like my yellow shoes. My kids forbid me from buying them. I didn't listen.

I always feel bad about killing a snake. The poor guy was doing his job and warning me not to come closer. Unfortunately, if I had let him go, I may have accidentally surprised him the next day and ended up in the hospital. I'd rather not take the chance. I have this real fear of having fangs sink into me. Must be why I have trouble reading vampire books.

There was a lady from Arizon who used to kill so many rattlers that she started using the dried vertebrae as necklace components. When I read this, I went to find the snake we'd had to kill because it floated down the creek and docked next to where my son was playing in the water. I picked up the skeleton, considered it for about a nanosecond, then put it back down. I'm not a snake wearing gal--especially the vertebrae. Ewww.

Ellen--Coral snakes scare the p*ss out of me. (Pardon my asterisked French.) I get the heebie jeebies just looking at photos of them.

Thank you, Fedora :)

I have a friend who is so afraid of snakes that she opened the newspaper in the car while her husband was driving, saw a photo of a snake, screamed and he almost drove off the road. And she is the sanest person I know. Most of the cowboys I know are deathly afraid of snakes.

ROTFL, booklover! And I really enjoyed meeting you at Nationals. I hope to do so again. Good luck on your submissions.

Ani--Too, too funny. I admit to stopping and moving snakes off the road with a stick. I hate to see them get run over.