Snake has been stalking me! I will present my case shortly and you can decide if you agree with me. But first, for those of you who read my posts you are gradually getting to know Joan. At least parts of me. I always hope that you comprehend what I write, and that I write thoughts and experiences that send a zing! to your brain, or touch your heart, or maybe make you smile. At the same time I understand you may not resonate with everything I share. Today could be a day like that. Perhaps a day to take the advice of an Al-anon teaching: Take what you need and leave the rest.

I have believed for decades that animals are here on earth for many reasons, the primary reason being to teach us humans many lessons. They are our teachers and to be respected. There are many teachings given to us to discern the characteristics an animal may represent. I tend to google Native American Indian meanings for animals to find those teachings. And I am forever grateful to these beings, because I understand there are lessons to be learned. Before I understood this I could easily dismiss an animal. I was like so many of us human beings are, dismissing them without a thought, literally. No thought for why they are here, who they are, what do they feel or think.

So Snake has arrived in my life repeatedly over the past two months. On my prayer walk a couple of months ago he was lying in the middle of the farm driveway. I thought it was a long, black stick and I almost stepped on him. Probably a harmless cow snake, but when I realized who he was I gasped out loud and quietly walked around him. I do not feel totally secure around a snake. But I turned back after a minute, concerned someone may drive a vehicle down the drive and run him over. I gently threw a small tree branch his way but he did not move. I sent up a prayer that Snake would soon stop his sunning from the warmth of the sun and move into the grass. When Reddogg and I returned, he was nowhere to be seen. Happy day!

About a week later my darling Man, Alan, and I were walking the same path. A small pond lies to the right of the road. I looked up in the sky and there flying high and majestic is a Great Blue Heron, and in his beak it looks like he is dangling a long, thin snake. He lowers himself to the other side of the pond for a few minutes, his prize hidden by the tall grasses, then lifts off carrying what I still believe was most likely a snake. I had never seen a Heron do that before!

Towards the end of June I am standing on the deck off the kitchen of Our Treehouse, watching for hummingbirds, especially the one I see the most, which I have named Money. Who doesn’t love to say the word “Money”? I have not seen Prudie this year, the tiny hummingbird I named after my grandmother who visited for several years in a row. There are two more this year and Alan has named them Honey, and a small male, Funny. They are so fun to watch! But I am getting away from my primary story. So, as I look down on the backyard deck admiring my flowers in several pots, I see Snake. Another black snake, three to four feet long, and he is slithering all around a portion of the deck covered with sun gold pebbles. I whip out my phone and take a video of him. I can’t believe it. He moves around for several minutes then disappears under some rocks. So close to Our Treehouse!

Last week I am returning from retrieving the mail and walking down the driveway back towards the house when I notice a crooked black stick lying in front of me. Only it is not a stick. It is Snake! And he is dead, which certainly got my attention. It also made me sad. If I had run him over with my car, Silly Tilly, I had not seen him. He was small and thin, maybe eighteen inches long. I picked him up with a thick stick and carried him to the side, in the grasses, back to Mother Earth. What is going on!?

The day after that I am weed eating down by a flower bed in the lower part of the back yard. And yes, once again I almost step on it before I see it! Only this time it is a snake skin, a beautiful silver color with tan markings patterned all over the molted skin, as you can see in the photo above. I step back and return to the house, grab my phone and take a picture of it lying in the grass. And the whole time I’m thinking, “O.K. I get it, Snake . You definitely have a message for me. You are all about change in a life. I’m truly paying attention now. I’ve got some changing to do, maybe some growing pains ahead. But haven’t I said for decades that I love to learn?”

Snake’s biggest characteristic is transformation, a time for change. The reason a snake discards his exterior skin is because he has literally outgrown that skin. That is why when he appears in your life he represents the concept it is time to change something in your life; perhaps how you are living your life, your personality, the way you view a topic or concept, or how you think about a specific subject or even another person. It is my belief it is all designed to help us grow, to become a better person, to become aware of a character defect and choose to work on that defect, all of which aids us in transforming our own lives. I was taught in Al-Anon that if we did not try to explore our character defects they would only grow stronger as each year passes; issues like anger, impatience, codependency, jealousy or selfishness.

On the other side of the coin Snake could be telling me that I have been going through lots of changes in my own life and to give myself some grace as I navigate those changes. Maybe even give myself some praise, a pat on the back, because I am doing well with those changes. And always Snake could be the fortune teller, a reminder that change is coming my way and to be ready for those changes. Snake is a powerful messenger, one I appreciate. Change is the one thing that is guaranteed in this life, and yet we can all be such creatures of habit.

So, I rest my case. As you can see Snake has been stalking me. I am choosing to maintain my serenity and happiness as my life grows bigger with changes in all areas of my life; in relationships, publishing my book, traveling, new friends, great health, and becoming available to opportunities and possibilities. Awareness is a fine gift!

c   Love, Joan