4th Of July

Ray and I went to Homer’s (and Sandy’s) places in Tucson to watch the 4th of July fireworks.  As usual, we had a great time hanging out with the gang.  Ray and I stayed overnight to avoid the late-night 90 mile drive home.  The next day we got up, went to breakfast and picked up a fountain we’d bought.  (We couln’t fit in in the little car so we had to come back with the bigger one.)  While we were picking up the fountain, we found another one that we liked so we’re going to have to head back up to Tucson this weekend to get it. 

After our cargo was loaded in the car, we made our way over to a little get together with a bunch of guys for some NPV (naked pool volleyball).  Yes, it’s silly, there are a bunch of naked guys splashing around in the pool but it’s still a game (or games) of volleyball and very good exercise.  My arms and legs were totally sore the next day. What a great workout.

We got home late and decided to set the fountain up the next day.  It’s made of concrete and was hard to navigate.  After lifting and positioning and all that, we turned it on.  It worked like a charm and we’re very happy with it. 

Ray decided to do a little bit of gardening in the front courtyard.  I went to clean out my fish pond to get it ready to move over to the other side of the patio to make room for the other fountain.  Ray yelled through the front door for me to come out front.  Something in his voice made me grab my camera.

This is what we saw:

A gopher snake in the courtyard.

It was about four feet long and didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave.  Now, some people may get a bit squeamish when it comes to these critters.  Ray and I think it’s cool.  Just part of living in the country.  Ray finally shooed it away and I went back to my fish. 

About 15 minutes later, I’d finished refilling the fish tank and got the pump going when I noticed this:

Mr. Gopher Snake in the back courtyard!

It was actually behind the fish tank when I first noticed the little beady eyes which means it just slithered past me while I was standing there.  Ray came over and shooed it away again.  For something that moved from the front yard to the back in a matter of minutes, it sure was slow. 

About a half hour later, I saw the snake crossing the driveway going back out to the wilderness. 

Never a dull moment here at Stolen Horseshoe.