The Garden Guardian...

The other day as I wandered through the garden to pick some herbs, I paused to check on the little seedlings of Tuscan Kale and onions I'd planted a month ago..., I was surprised and delighted to see that despite getting very little attention from me (a little watering, and some sluggo sprinkled to keep the slimey plant slurper slugs at bay,) the "little" plants had grown almost a foot tall..., as I stood wondering what  had happened to make these plants flourish, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a little snake curled up warming himself on a nearby rock...  

I imagined this little snake being the guardian of my little vegetables plants.  He looked so content and at peace on the warm rock... his snake spirit scaring any slugs and bugs that might consider dining on the tender young plants... Thankssssssssss little snake....

Below is a Mary Oliver poem ~ enjoy...

Ribbon Snake Asleep In The Sun

~ Mary Oliver

I come upon him and he is 

startled; he glides

to the rock's rim; he wheels, setting in motion

the stripes of his body, yet not going

anywhere.  And though the books say

it can't be done, since his eyes are set

too far apart in the narrow skull, I'm not

lying when I say that he lifts his face and looks

into my eyes and I look back until

we are both staring hard

at each other.  He wants to know 

just where in this bright, blue-faced world

he might be safe.  He wants to go on with the

flow of his life.  Then he straightens

his shining back and drops

from the rocks and rockets through

the tangle of weeds, sliding, as he goes, over

my bare foot.  Then it vanishes

into the shade and the grass, down to

some slubby stream, having

startled me in return.  But this is a

small matter.  What I would speak of, rather,

is the weightless string of his actually soft and 

nervous body; the nameless stars of its eyes.