Nary A Snake

  Yesterday about mid morning, the neighborhood watch sent up a huge alarm.  Something was surely amiss!  I headed out the front door to check for snakes.  By neighborhood watch, I mean the usual cacophony of bird cries.  Let one blue jay find a snake and every bird in the county seems bent of joining in the fracas.  Wrens, jays, cardinals, thrashers and mockingbirds all joined in the effort to keep the yard free of any menacing rat snakes.  

  Being as I was barefoot, I kept a close eye on the ground just in case a moccasin had come up out of the marsh.  The birds were only a few feet from the front door so I was able to stay on the board path.  Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.  Sad thing is...I never found a snake!  I found mushrooms.  Not that the birds would be in a tizzy over mushrooms but. as I was peering under the iron plant hoping to see a telltale sign of a snake, I found a whole cluster of white mushrooms.  The teeny things were not much larger than a butter bean and were just as cute as a button!  Now, some of you may be adept at identifying mushrooms but I admit to having difficulty in the area.  I leave them all alone to grow where they may.  These were in a "out of the way" spot so there was not even a worry about the old dog taking a nip of one so they can continue to decorate the garden.  

  One just never knows what might be found lurking beneath the bushes when the birds send up their alarm cries.  This time, I never found that snake and chances are good that it was staring at me and wondering why I was excited over a fungus!