The very definition of phobia includes “irrational”. And I don’t know that a healthy fear of snakes is truly irrational, but I had a well-developed snake phobia for about for my first 33 or 34 years on earth. (I’m 36 now.) Gardner snakes, while the most harmless, are the most terrifying. The slithering still sends chills down my spine. Emily Dickonson’s phrase “zero at the bone” describes probably a common reaction to these horrible creatures.
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides--
You may have met Him--
did you not
His notice sudden is--
The Grass divides as with a Comb--
A spotted shaft is seen--
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on--
He likes a Boggy Acre
A Floor too cool for Corn--
Yet when a Boy, and Barefoot--
I more than once at Noon
Have passed, I thought, a Whip lash
Unbraiding in the Sun
When stooping to secure it
It wrinkled, and was gone--
Several of Nature's People
I know, and they know me--
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality--
But never met this Fellow
Attended, or alone
Without a tighter breathing
And Zero at the Bone--
But when Kyla turned one or so, and I realized that I did not want to pass on to her my snake phobia. I decided to buck up and pretend I wasn’t scared of snakes. And it has really worked…at the zoo. I don’t know how high I will jump next time I nearly run over a squiggling reptile with the lawn mower, but if they are behind a thick glass and don’t move around too much, I can excitedly point out the beautiful colors of this snake or how well that snake blends in with his surroundings.
Here’s how I know I’ve succeeded at least in this:
And that’s no zoon lens I’m using!!
And this is just cute. Kyla and Piper are waiting in line to tickle the boa. Piper just wanted to stand there hugging Kyla.
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