AWESOME

The Day of Snakes The scariest memory I have of my first house would have to be titled //The Day of Snakes.// We lived in a parsonage next door to the Waters Memorial United Methodist Church where my dad was the pastor. A parsonage is the house the church gives to the pastor and his family to live in. It was in Saint Leonard, Maryland, which is in Calvert County. We lived about five miles from the Chesapeake Bay. One thing Calvert County is famous for is its swampy terrain. This wet land attracts lots of snakes, especially copperheads. They are everywhere. We would have them in our yard, under our cars, even baby ones were found in our basement. Funny thing is you are not allowed to kill a copperhead in Calvert County. You have to call the county to come and remove the snakes from your property. Usually, the snakes were as afraid of you as you were of them, and they left you alone. One day it seemed like we were being attacked by snakes. Everywhere we looked there was a snake. It started when we found a six-foot long snakeskin on the front porch. It was the skin of a black snake who liked to rub against the bricks on the porch every year to remove his old skin. We were a little freaked out, but we really did not worry, because snakes were common. The next snake spotting happened when my dad was coming home from work. As I said before, we lived right next to our church, so my dad only had to walk across the yard to go to his job. That day, he was walking home across the driveway. For some reason, he looked down and there was a four-foot long copperhead right under his foot. He just missed stepping on it. If he had stepped on it, it would have bitten him. He probably would have gone to the hospital, because copperheads are poisonous. There had already been two copperhead bites in the county that summer. He bolted for the door, and I do not think his feet touch the ground. Now there had been two snakes found, but the day was not over, yet. The third snake was found even closer to the house. We heard our dogs barking in the backyard. Something had them very upset. We looked out the door, and there was another copperhead trying to attack our dogs. We whistled for the dogs, and they came running into the house. Now we were convinced the snakes were after us. Even though there are a lot of snakes in Calvert County, it was pretty rare to see three snakes that close to the house in one day. I was freaked out, and we all decided not to leave the house until the next morning. I liked living in our first house because it was near the Chesapeake Bay, and we could spend a lot of time on the beach. However, I never liked having so many snakes around, especially poisonous ones.



Look here for the picture of my old church and house. Directions: look for broomes island road then follow it to mackall until you see green arrow then you will see my old house and church. []