Bull snake

Whew! Today was Blue and Gold Day, as well as the kindergarten graduation in the evening. I am ashamed to say that the teachers were trounced by the 5th graders in the tug of war, but we held our own in basketball with the 6th graders, mainly because Liz used to play for UC-Davis.

Then came the graduation, which went well. The great thing with kindergartners is that even if they mess up, its still cute.

On Saturday we went on a hike with Father Bob, as well as two brothers who came by our house, Will and Jeff. I thought we wouldn't go that far, as Father Bob is in his 60s and has his arm in a sling, but we went all over the mountains. He showed us a grotto of Mary that's been up there for many years. Will was jumping on the rocks above it, when suddenly he jumped six feet in the air and almost took Father down when he came down. He had jumped near the nest of a four foot snake. Father Bob told us that it was a bull snake, and that it wasn't poisonous, and then started to recall anecdotes about snakes from his time in Zambia. The snake was still looking at us and hissing now and then. Then she started to slither towards us, with Father Bob still talking. Finally we got his attention and begged him to move on. Jeff was scared of all the rocks after that. It was nice to see Jeff outside of school. He's one of my most frustrating 1st graders, because he doesn't put any effort into anything. But on the hike, he was really sweet and engaged. I think that school just doesn't do anything for him.

Then we came to the flat top of the hill, and saw three horses and two colts there, as if the world had forgotten them. I'm going to miss this place.