You probably already knew that snakes slither over backdrops (or 'under drops') of their own coloring. I mean, a cobra, green and stripped will be nearly unseen in the jungle undergrowth of grass and weeds; unseen that is until stepped on.

When I lived in California, one bright sunny morning I opened the blinds on the patio door to enjoy the sun only to discover a rattlesnake also enjoying the morning warming him/herself (who really can tell with a snake) on the patio a foot from my toes.

No surprise then to wonder if I needed a new eyeglass prescription when reading out on the porch yesterday. Peripherally I saw movement on the little rocks that line the outside of the porch. I peered directly at the stones. I squinted. I finally got out of my comfortable chair, put my book down and walked over to the edge of the porch.

Just like snakes from the beginning of time, there was one sunning him/herself (who can really ever tell with reptiles) on the rocks. We decided, the snake and I mutually, to leave one another to him/herself (one would be hard-pressed to try and determine the gender of an amphibian) and live copacetically (which is coincidentally the one word I carry-over from Semantics 101).