In May 2011, after four years of life on McNutt's Island, we moved to Montreal. This blog remains, though, as a (sort of) daily record of our time on the island, and a winding path for anyone who would like to meander about among its magical places. For additional perspectives and insights I recommend Greg's book, Island Year: Finding Nova Scotia (2010), and my Bowl of Light (2012). I'll continue to post once in a while. If you do want to read this blog, one option would be to begin at the beginning of it (which is, as we all know, in blog-world, at the end), and read forward, concluding with the most recent entry. It's a journal, really, so it does makes more sense if you read it that way. But, you know, read it any way you like.

Friday, April 24, 2009

first snake sighting

Today I met one of the island's snakes along the main road. It was my first snake of the spring, so it was an auspicious meeting. He or she was enjoying the warm gravelly road, reasonably not expecting anybody to come along. The snake graciously allowed me a photo opportunity before it flowed off the road and disappeared completely in the forest as snakes are so good at doing.

According to the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History the snake I met today was a Maritime Garter Snake. We also have the Smooth Green Snake here; I'm sure it will turn up soon. In 1915 the students of McNutt's Island School recorded their first snake sighting of the year on April 4th.

In Buddhist tradition the snake is a symbol of wisdom. I find them beautiful and strange, peaceful (though not to their dinners) and graceful. Almost always when I meet a snake I am surprised. It wakes me up to the here and now, and I'm grateful for that.

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