Slither Somewhere Else

 By Maryanna Gabriel 

Ahhh... summer. The need to rest. And heat. Er. Cough. And forest fires. I was expiring by a lakeside ahead of the tourists when a garter snake stopped directly in front of me and stared. I stared back. What was it thinking with its beady little eyes and raised head as it regarded me so intently? Ol' snake eyes. It was maybe 18 inches long with blue stripes along a dark body.

Maybe it was a totem. The snake symbol may mean healing, as in the medical symbol of the Staff of Aesculapius, or change. as in the shedding of its skin. But this snake's skin was glistening and fresh.

Suddenly, it came right for me. No, thank you. Not that I was afraid. Just not particularly wanting to be slithered upon. Go slither somewhere else. I held my Birkenstock up as a shield, and fortunately the movement worked. The snake veered into the bushes behind me. Not that it would bite. At the same time, one doesn't necessarily want to be charged by a snake during one's r 'n r. 

Once home, I looked the up symbolism. It means taking the negative (as in venomous bites) and transmuting the poison into a positive. Well, that fits. It is what I have done. Done on the Camino. Done in the book. Done in my life. So I guess snake is my totem animal. Don't mess with me.