2 hours

[prosodic]

I decided to take Reece for a walk after lunch. I probably put her leash on a minute or two too early, because she was getting antsy and jumping on the door, such was her desire to be outside.

So I quickly grabbed everything I needed for a half hour or so out of the house: cell phone, doggie waste bag, key.

Only...it was the wrong key.

And I didn't realize that until the door locked behind me. I took the key out of my pocket to lock the deadbolt, and noticed it wasn't the key that I wanted.

I did not panic. I calmly grabbed my cell and texted Lance, explaining the situation. I waited a few minutes...nothing.

So I took Reece for a walk. We came back and I spread my sweatshirt out under a tree in the front yard (couldn't get into the backyard because the gates are too high for me to reach the latch). I called my Mom to pass the time. We talked for 20 minutes or so and then she had to go because dinner was ready. So I took Reece for another walk, because Reece was getting antsy. And because I was tired of getting weird looks from people for sitting in my front yard (perhaps it would've been less odd if I had gone to the park and just sat at a picnic table).

I saw a snake on the sidewalk during that second walk. It was right next to the wooded area in our subdivision, and it heard me coming and slithered back into the woods. It was black with a silvery-gray stripe on each side, but I have no idea what kind of snake it was. Probably just a common garter snake, but I didn't get a really good look at it.

Lance called me while I was on the 2nd walk. He was in a meeting, so he had just gotten my texts. He would be home in 30-45 minutes. We finished our walk, reached the driveway, and then the downpour started.

We have an eave over our front door, so I took shelter under it. Reece apparently didn't care so much about getting wet. We only stood there about 10 minutes or so before Lance pulled into the driveway.

So...thankfully the situation wasn't worse. I mean, Lance could've been out of town or something, and then it would've been disaster. And it's still early enough that I can do what still needs to be done today.

Off to vacuum!

Comments

[beaniesue.livejournal.com]

There are so many clever ways to hide a key around your property - like putting one in a baggie and then burying it in a potted plant, or sticking it in a baggie up under the eave in a wierd spot like back towards the back etc.

For the longest time we had a key taped to between two fake maple leaves that I then used industrial strength glue to glue the leaf to a tree branch on one of our trees ;)

And yep, sounds like a garter snake.