Back in Genesis, Eve had an encounter with a snake. It caused her and the rest of us a lot of trouble. I hate snakes. Oh, I know there are good ones, black snakes and such, that keep the rodent population under control. There is also the other kind. They are on my “kill now” list. They used to be on my “kill now” list, but since I am now on a walker, I seldom venture into their environment.

Snakes give me the “creepy-crawly willies,” so to speak. I have done my best to learn as much about them as I can to protect myself. I know better than to walk under a tree without looking up. I don't put my hand in a box out in the barn. I dump it out to get what I'm looking for. I don't blindly step over a log out in the woods. I either go around it or cautiously peer over it before going on. I try to be aware of the environment I am sharing with these scary creatures. I know God put us all on earth for a reason, but why He chose to add poisonous snakes is far beyond me.

Steve Roark has had several articles about snakes in recent weeks. He said they don't smell like cucumbers. I beg to differ with him. When I was laying up a stone wall, I knew when I was not alone. It seems to me that when a snake is agitated, it gives off a musky odor. Sometimes it smells like cucumbers, sometimes like freshly dried wash on the line and sometimes just a plain musky odor. Every time, I have found a copperhead snake nearby.

About twenty years ago, I bought a five acre patch of land over on Keck Road. The field had been dormant for many years. I think tobacco was the last crop planted there. Blackberry bushes had overrun the place. I love blackberries, either straight off the bush or in any number of desserts I have learned to make. I had to have those blackberries, snakes or no snakes.

I persuaded my daughter, Anne, to go with me. She reluctantly agreed. Armed with a broomstick, we approached the blackberry patch. It had been a good year. The blackberries were big and luscious. We stood side by side picking berries as the bushes spread out before us.

It wasn't long before the smell of cut cucumbers filled the air. Oh, boy! There was a snake nearby. But, I wanted those blackberries. I poked around with my stick. That moved the snake off a ways so we could pick the nearby blackberries. Anne and I proceeded in like manner down the hill. We picked our containers full. Each time we moved the odor of cut cucumbers filled the air. More poking with my stick did the trick in moving him on down the line. Anne never went blackberry picking with me again. Wait a minute. I forgot about the time she ran into a hive of yellow jackets with the lawnmower. That was the last time she went blackberry picking with me. That's another story.

Now if I want blackberries, I have to go to Food City. Somebody else picked those blackberries.