Hemlock Bluff Nature Preserve
I went to Hemlock Bluff Nature Preserve today. Replete with mini-museum, education center, and gift shop, the place is a complete marvel of democracy, aiding in the re-election of some ailing politician before sinking into curious obscurity. It is a park with all the pretensions of being in an actual place, when in fact it is just a sectioned off piece of forest, like anywhere else here. Actually I take that back, it does have the quality of being a nature preserve, and by nature here, I mean copper heads. (For those of you who don’t know, copper heads are the only other poisonous snakes here, besides rattle snakes.) I know this because one of the employees at the place told me about the frequent citings of copper heads on the path before I entered…I really regretted not taking that swim like I was thinking about… Which brings me to my first point: Why is it when there is a moment of indecision in life, the choice you make will be re-enforced in a negative manner? Choose the skim instead of the whole and the milk will be bad, take the car instead of walk and you get into a mad traffic jam, go for a walk instead of take a swim, and there will be poisonous snakes all over the path…. You know what I mean?
Anyway, I walked the path, eyes glued to the floor, getting scared by squirrels, trying to come up with a snake preparedness plan that wasn’t principally based on screaming and running (etc…) I did have occasion to leave the path early, and the idea was tempting, but, for reasons unknown, I pressed on. This brings me to my second point: There is some madness, some absurdity, in all peoples’ decisions that occasionally causes them to choose a path of self destruction when safety and comfort are just two steps away…
In any case, I managed to walk the whole park without seeing a copper head (thankfully).
So after looking again at the museum, education center, and gift shop in equal measures of disbelief and bewilderment, I checked the cracks of my shoes to see if any baby snakes had got wedged in-between, reassured myself that I am not paranoid, and got in the car to drive off, promising not to return until a very, very, very cold day.
Anyway, I walked the path, eyes glued to the floor, getting scared by squirrels, trying to come up with a snake preparedness plan that wasn’t principally based on screaming and running (etc…) I did have occasion to leave the path early, and the idea was tempting, but, for reasons unknown, I pressed on. This brings me to my second point: There is some madness, some absurdity, in all peoples’ decisions that occasionally causes them to choose a path of self destruction when safety and comfort are just two steps away…
In any case, I managed to walk the whole park without seeing a copper head (thankfully).
So after looking again at the museum, education center, and gift shop in equal measures of disbelief and bewilderment, I checked the cracks of my shoes to see if any baby snakes had got wedged in-between, reassured myself that I am not paranoid, and got in the car to drive off, promising not to return until a very, very, very cold day.