The Wall Climbers!

 Back when he was just a lad of maybe eight years of age, Son used to be what I called a "Wall Climber".  Our hallway is rather narrow making the walls just the right distance apart of his arms when outstretched. He would do a sort of Spiderman climb up the walls with hands outstretched and feet spread against opposite walls.  My little Wall Climber did not stop there, though.  Once he figured out how to contort his body in weird ways, I never knew where I was going to find him! Why!  There are even footprints on the ceiling above the stairs and that is a good twenty feet up!  How in the world he ever walked the ceiling was beyond my comprehension! To this day, he is still just as agile as when he was a kid.  It seems as if I was doomed from the start with Wall Climbers scaring the beejeebies out of me!

  The Wall Climber, today, was not near so terrifying as finding your tyke dangling from a ceiling fan but it did make me ponder.  I headed out to water the garden and pick a few summer squash when I noticed the young cat, Ms. Nycto sitting on the back porch.  While there is nothing unusual about her being there, her actions were most peculiar. She was sitting and staring at the window.  Hmmm?  This needed to be checked.  Was there some bird trapped inside the laundry room?  I thought perhaps the cat was eyeing something INSIDE the window.....I was wrong.....way wrong.  When I glanced in the same direction as the cat, I found what was holding her so mesmerized.  A Gray Rat Snake was lounging about on the window.  Now before you think this little guy was on a ledge or something, let me reassure you that it was actually on the window!  The snake had made its way up the wall and was stretched out on the muntins between the panes.  (Yes, that is a word. The small wood or metal strips that are between window panes are called muntins.  Bet you did not know that!)  That critter was a Wall Climber!  

  Okey dokey now!  Son!!!!  I asked Son to move the snake to a less scarier place than my back window.  (Less scary for me and probably the snake since the cat was contemplating if this would be her first catch as a predator!)  Michael agreed but only if he could play with the snake for a while.  So....we did.  The snake proved to be quite placid about the whole ordeal and was most congenial. His exit to the garden was made and there he can catch all the voles he wants without having to climb any more walls!