The Jungle

This summer, when  we were in Utah for two days between travels (Carmack family reunion in CA, wedding, honeymoon, Ohio), we had a little jungle. Our backyard lawn was growing like crazy and Christopher Pfaffroth was in up to his knees (higher than mine. If I said up to my knees, that wouldn't be very impressive). The garden was out ten feet past the boxes, including through the fence and growing large squashes in our neighbor's yard. We thought it looked wild. Weeds up to the windows in the front flower boxes (some of them turned out to be mint, which I corralled). And then we went inside. Tons of spiders. I think just the lack of activity inside seemed very inviting for them. And then there was a wasp nest in our doorway. Christopher Pfaffroth sprayed it. But then they re-built in the grill of my car. Then Chris Pfaffroth went outside to mow and came back in a little later, not for an ice-cold beverage, but for a box and the broom. As it turns out, he found a snake. As it also turns out, he is not so good with the snakes, so I got him (the snake, not Chris P.) into a box and we took him to the river and let him go. Later, in the kitchen, a little mouse snuck out from behind the fridge and then disappeared again. We should have kept the snake. But we got some little traps and I'm thinking he got wise to that and left because we haven't seen him again, dead or alive. This is what happens when you leave your home for a month.

The other creatures were much quicker so we only have a photo of the snake. Also, we had another snake a couple weeks ago! I don't think it was the same one, unless snakes have similar homing devices to pigeons and the like.