Guess what tomorrow is...

A couple of quick observations/questions then a quick story. Then it’s a holiday weekend!!!

Holy Crap! Football season starts tomorrow!!! I’m way excited. I spent last night flipping between 4 games. My thumb will be really tired tomorrow. Quick predictions: AU-38 LAMO-13; UT-17 UCLA-10; USC-24 UVA-14; CU-27 UA-24

Do you think John McCain might be fishing for disgruntled Hillary supporters? Is his choice of running mate brilliant or stupid? I think it’s a smart choice. I’m not sure it will have the effect he’s hoping it will. He could be further alienating conservatives. We’ll see.

Heath Mixon, read no further. A snake story follows.

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I told you a few days ago about our dog getting lost in Waterloo. We went back and forth for a couple of months looking for him. We would drive around the small country roads looking and calling him.

One weekend as we drove and searched we saw something large in the road ahead. It was stretched across an entire lane of the road. It looked like a large speed bump. As we got closer my dad realized it was a rattlesnake! It was at least 10 feet long. I would guess 4 inches in diameter at it’s thickest.

When we realized what it was my dad floored it. We ran over the snake. He slammed on the breaks and threw the car into reverse. We screeched backward and ran over it again. Again he stomped the breaks, shifted back into drive and ran over it one more time.

After the third pass the snake was still. We looked back and it lay motionless in the road. We were parked in the street with the snake about 10 feet behind us. My dad and Danny, a family friend, were in the front seats. I should explain that Danny was a very large man. He stood about 6’1” and weighed nothing short of 400 pounds.

Both of the men got out of the car. My dad started to walk toward the lifeless reptile. Danny stood stock-still and stared. My brother and I sat staring out the back window of the car. My dad picked up a long stick and got just close enough to hit it in the head. He swung the stick over his head and crashed it down on the head of the snake.

With that hit, the snake jerked back to life. The snake turned toward my dad and he hit it again. He screamed at Danny, “Get my gun!” My dad carried a .32 in the glove compartment on our dog searching trips. Danny never moved. His skin blanched and small beads of sweat appeared on his brow and upper lip. His eyes never left the snake.

“Danny, get my gun!”

A slight quiver shook Danny’s large frame.

My dad hit the snake again and it turned away from him and slithered toward the woods.

“Danny, bring my gun!”

Still no movement.

My dad ran back to the car and got the gun out his self. He ran back to the spot the snake entered the woods. It was too late. The snake disappeared into the thick forest. My dad, defeated, finally returned to the car. Danny was still frozen in place.

“Get in the car, Danny. He’s gone.”

Danny seemed to awaken from a trance. He shuttered slightly and slumped into the passenger seat.

We turned the car around and resumed our search. The snake lived to fight another day. If he’s still alive I’m sure he still tells the story of the day he paralyzed a 400-pound man.