Rattlesnake

I am not certain about Stacy but I know that Saturday was the first
time that Cecilia, Tristan and I had seen a rattlesnake in person.
The four of us walked to the Trenton pool for a swim. We walked along
the streets and as we crossed the final intersection before the pool,
we encountered a snake scooting diagonally across the intersection.

I pulled Tristan away from the snake. Stacy recalls the event
differently and attributes much more calmness to me. Stacy said that
I calmly stated, "Oh, there is a snake", and then pulled Tristan away
from the middle of the intersection.

I remember screeching. No, I did not screech to frighten the snake. I
screeched because I was scared. I first thought that the snake was a
very big garter snaked (but then realized it was the wrong coloring).
I next thought it was a bull snake but quickly noted the head and the
rattles.

My first inclination was to avoid the snake and let it move away.
Stacy quickly realized that it was scooting to a neatly mowed lawn.
Rattlesnakes and people do not mix well. We later found that the
residence was occupied by a grandmother whose grandchild often
visited. The grandchildren were visiting that day.

So after screeching and finally calming down, we realized that we
needed to stop the snake. The house nearest to us had loose boards
leaning against it. I grabbed the board and stood in front of the snake.

I enjoy animal planet. I like Jeff Corwin but I had no intentions of
grabbing the snake. I only wanted to keep the snake from entering the
lawn. I succeeded but the snake struck at me a few times.

Meanwhile, Stacy found someone with a shovel. As it turns out, he was
the groundskeeper for the park. The groundskeeper was non plussed and
quickly resolved the situation. I was impressed with his coolness. My
heart was rapidly pounding during the whole experience.

I need to swim

Last night I biked 13 miles. I biked 13 miles on the Mopac trail
after I biked from work (approximately 4.5 miles). Total distance
yesterday on the bike 22 miles. For my European friends (actually
they can convert so it is more for my American friends) that is 35 km.

I biked on the Mopac from our house which connects to the trail near
the 56th until the tunnel. Click this link for more information on
the Mopac - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2821628. I am not sure why
the best information about the Mopac trail is on the BBC web site but
it is.

I biked to 134th street tunnel/culvert. I wanted to bike more this
week but this has been an extremely busy and hectic week - some of
which I can share more in the next few days (I hope).

The 5K run does not concern. I can jog 3 miles. The two unknowns are
whether I can smile one kilometer (.62 miles) and then whether I can
piece all three together.

We leave for Denver on Friday. We plan to visit WaterWorld. It is a
great water park (and the Burda's love waterparks). They don't have a
lap pool.

I am thinking that I might split this into two blogs. One for my
entries and leave this blog more focussed on family.

Talk to you all later,

Mike