Firsts This Spring

I can’t believe I haven’t posted yet about the fabulous new camera lens Opie got me for Christmas. 

It’s a lens for extreme close ups and portraits; in professional photography jargon it’s best described as “very zoom-y” and “wicked cool!”

I hope that’s not too technical for you lay people.

In any case, we’ve taken it on a few of our morning hikes/walks and the pics it takes are simply amazing…as evidenced by this picture I like to call Duck Berries:

(Duck Berries...hope that's not too abstract for you non-English teachers!)

But, best of all, I was able to capture some awesome shots of a few firsts of the spring.

Like the first toad of spring who was hiding in the garden:

And the first iris of spring that popped up a few weeks ago.

I did not, obviously, capture a picture of the first snake of spring that slithered sneakily out from under a rock a few days ago because it is very difficult to take good pictures while running away screaming.

Opie maintains that this is “over-reacting” and that “you’re going to see snakes outside” and that “it’s a tiny little snake, you should be able to deal with a tiny little snake.”

Which just goes to show you that, once again, Opie is very lucky my fear of snakes is only topped by my fear of prison.

Though, I will admit, it was a small snake.  And while I didn’t get my own pic, I found a representative pic on Google images:

Small but obviously an inherently vicious creature that would kill you as soon as look at you!

It is interesting to note that, when telling our friends Fred and Susan about our snake adventures, Susan mentioned that she had found a snake in their pantry a while ago (It is further interesting to note that I was sitting within FEET of the alleged pantry when this revelation was made.  The fact that I didn’t immediately dash from the home is a testament to my strength of character). In any case, snake in the pantry is the clearest argument for moving I have ever heard, even if this is their dream house that they designed and had built.

So, in summary, the new camera lens is awesome, snakes are evil, Susan is one of the bravest women alive and if we get a snake in this house we’re putting it on the market within the hour.