Ru-minating

Since we covered his little brother yesterday, (and it has been requested) it only seems logical to follow with Ru's latest deep loves so that we cover the subject thoroughly and make sure we've got everyone all analyzed and duly recorded for posterity.

Ru Likes:

• Water...the boy can drink it by the gallon...at every meal, and every snack and pretty frequently between eating sessions. He always asks me if I have the water bottle when we're getting in the car, even a ten minute jaunt down to church isn't safe from "the question."
• Books of endless variety. He has an insatiable appetite for "story" and spends hours every day thumbing through books cross-legged on the floor by the bookcase. I am a very happy mommy.
• Sweets. He's our sweet tooth...just like his daddy. Chocolate? YES! Cake? YES! Pie? YES! Ice-cream? Oh YES! He is after all the same little boy who learned the word "doughnut" before he supposed to even be talking according to the official time lines.
• Skateboarding. I honestly wasn't sure if his little affection for the sport would last beyond the novel purchase of his board but I needn't have worried. He skateboards every single day. It rivals reading. And frankly, for a four-year-old, he's pretty darn good!
• Hot Dogs. Did I mention that he's not terribly health conscious?
• Parks. He loves parks for one of the same reasons I drag my heels about getting up the gumption to go to them. All the other little kids. He loves all the play equipment too and the change to be outside and the novelty of going somewhere different but, when it comes right down to it...its all about socializing. He loves people.
• Showers. One of the only things that will get him out of the pool or out of bed in the morning with any sort of cheery speed is the promise of his own shower.
• (speaking of which...) Swimming! A bought him a mask and flippers for his birthday and at the tail end of last summer he learned how to go underwater smoothly and that was it...he was off. He swims until his lips are purple and he's rattling like a set of castanets every time we swim.
• "Babysitting" He loves it when I let him "watch" the baby while I cook dinner or rotate the laundry or answer the door. Nothing like a little responsibility to make your chest swell.
• Cooking. He loves to cook, bake, cut things up, or even just stand there and stir something I do the rest. Get that boy in an apron and he is very happy which makes his Mama happy too!
• Dogs. He still loves dogs just as much as he did when he was a tiny tot. This boy is destined to have his own romping, sweet-hearted little mutt to play with someday. House first, kids second...dog third. Its on the list.
• This song. I have no idea why but, he's wildly, madly attached to it. I'm not sure where in the world he heard it first or how he got the affection all cemented in his little brain but, somehow it happened. It goes on all of our mixed cd's now and he has memorized Ray Charles little vocal tricks and habits.
• Ben P_______. Speaking of illogical love.... Ben is one of A's coworkers and Ru overheard his name being mentioned in end-of-the-day discussion at the dinner table and decided he thought Ben (of whom he knew nothing and whom he had never met) was wonderful. His name became a chant around the house that Ru worked into any number of playtime pretends and then when A decided to invite Ben and his wife over for dinner the obsession reached a fever pitch. Meeting the man in the flesh did nothing to cool Ru's ardor (thankfully Ben is a charming, funny, kid-loving kind of chap) and he still asks A almost daily about if Ben saw such-and-such or knows about such-and-such or "Could you tell Ben....." 

What Do Cleopatra and Medusa Have In Common?

Snakes. That's what! Yesterday afternoon our kind neighbor Mr. Wilson, stopped by and mentioned that he'd keep a close eye on the boys when we're all out romping in the yard if he were me, someone had just run over a copperhead at the top of our drive. *shudder*

Surprise! We have copperheads here. I had no idea that we had any venomous snakes although apparently it appears that we have not one but two (the much rarer timber rattler also can be seen here one in a blue moon too) And yes, we have accidentally settled in perfectly ideal Copperhead country, right here at our condo. Wikipedia says they like moist, swampy lowlands (hello!), mixed decidious forests and rocky ledges for sun bathing (about those stone-walls).

The pictures are not a live snake of course, but just some shots of our snakeskin we found last year as you may remember from this post. I dug it out of the back of the nature shelf after Mr. Wilson left though and had a good hard look at it to see if had any copperheady signs about it...its a bit unnerving to know that we found it on the edge of the driveway, strangely near where this latest sighting was.

I actually feel just a little jello-legged about this new discovery and although I had kind of thought of gardening that afternoon and this morning, I still haven't been out. Handily, it turns out that copperheads are one of the least venomous pit vipers (a family of snakes with heat pits on their heads for sensing prey) so you're quite likely to live. Or at least I would be. Not so sure what Dee's chances would be.

I have a feeling some serious lessons about reptilian manners are in order and some careful coaching about not playing on the stone walls on those balmy sunny days. Good thing the walls belong to the neighbor anyhow...I have a reason to try to keep them off now.

The reverse of the old saying goes, "There are not gains without some small losses." This is the price one pays I suppose for racking up higher growing zone numbers. Shoulda known there'd be some little hitch. Lets hope we can just learn to live with the snakes and stay out of their way. Its good to note that there has not been a death from copperhead bites in the last 100 years in our area, that the snakes are actually rare enough that they are a protected species and that they are intensely afraid of humans and will generally avoid us at all costs. Now if only they didn't have that habit of freezing when danger is very near. The easiest way to get bitten by a copperhead is to accidentally step on it. They're stinking well camouflaged.