Monday, October 16th, 2017
With my girl riding shotgun we tore up the streets of Moscow with the radio playing and the windows down. The cool fall air playfully nipped at our faces as we slowed to a halt at the red light. The old guy driving a cab next to me at the light also had his window down, and he nodded his approval. I nodded back. Then his dog climbed up on his lap and stuck his head out the window trying to greet Jex. Jex, however, would have none of it, and stared straight ahead and never gave him one glance. Rejection! Burn! Then the light changed colors and we sped away. When we got there, I ran into TRC to get my spoons and water bottle that I'd left the day before at dancing.
Quick backstory and then we'll get back to where we were: Sometimes I get oddly attached to everyday items, like rocks, seeds, a beaten up jack of diamonds, or whatever small piece of something I find laying around totally disregarded. I'll say, "This is MY orange juice cap, and I will cherish it forever and bring it with me wherever I go." Well, I had this plastic disposable half liter water bottle that was near and dear to my heart and I used all the time. Yes, I had it. Not anymore though. See, I brought it along to a movie night over break week, at which time I unwittingly left it behind. Upon arriving home I noticed that it was missing and immediately texted Charli so as to insure the safety of my water bottle, as unknowing soles would think nothing of it and throw it away. She said she'd give it to me the next time we saw each other. Well, that was Sunday. And she didn't have the bottle. She had forgotten to tell her roommates, and evidently one of them had disposed of it. She was sad because she'd said she'd keep it safe, and it was lost on her watch. Consequently she brought along a new glass bottle to replace it with, and that was now what I was coming to get. Though I miss my worthless plastic bottle, I am satisfied with it's replacement and look forward to cherishing it forever until some calamity befalls me again and I shatter it to a thousand pieces. Such heartbreaks occur often when you attach yourself to everyday objects, but hey, I always know they're right around the corner so it's not that bad.
Anyways, I grabbed up my items and went back to the car. Then I let Jex out and we went for a little walk, but near the end I almost stumbled upon a little snake basking in the warm sun on the black asphalt. I immediately started to catch him, but, being unsuccessful, had to release Jex's leash from my grasp since she was tugging my arm in the wrong direction and interfering with the operation. Then I grabbed'im up and looked at him. So cool! I couldn't just let him go, so I came up with a reason to keep him and put him in a jam jar I keep handy for such occasions. That done, Jex and I hied home, whereupon I tied her back up in the yard and grabbed a little straw to put in the jar before driving back to my place. I read for a little while longer, then packed my bag, being sure not to forget my little snake. By and by, after some time had passed, it was almost four o'clock so I went to the classroom to sit down. John and Charli were already there, and John, in surprise, asked if I was really in the Anselm and Tolkien class.
"No," I replied drily, "I'm just walked all the way here for no apparent reason."
"Wait... really?" He was confused, wondering if I was being sarcastic or not.
"Yes, really. I came all the way here just to see you guys."
Charli had been laughily smirking, and here she let out a brief laugh and a smile.
"Sometimes," I continued, drily and with as much seriousness as I could muster, "I get lonely."
Another somewhat stifled laugh escaped, and I couldn't keep from smiling.
Quizzically, but strongly suspecting he knows the answer, John said, "So are you really in this class?"
"Yes, yes I am."
A little while later Christy walked in and the most glorious thing happened. She sat down across the aisle from me and pulled out a half gallon of pure milk from her bag, which she handed to me saying how they'd given her extra at the farm and so she was giving it to me. My face lit up and happiness surged out from the depth of my being. I love good milk, and here was half a gallon, given freely and unexpectedly! That made my day.
"Oh, I have something for you too!"
"What, really? What is it?"
And then I pulled out my jam jar and handed it to her.
"A snake! Did you catch it? Do you know what type it is?"
"I caught it earlier today while walking Jex, but I don't know exactly what type it is."
"Oh, Dr. Wilson is in, we should bring it to him and ask him. You should do it since you caught him."
And so it was we showed Dr. Wilson it, and he was pleased to see we'd found a Wandering Garder snake. (I always thought it was 'Gardener snake' when I was little and was quite distraught when I found that wasn't the case.) Wilson patted the bottle to get him out, and that's where Charli got his name Ketchup from, because he was patted out like you would the remainder of a ketchup bottle. Then he was passed around from person to person, except Brooke and Sarah weren't too keen on holding or touching him, so mostly Charli held him since I'd already had my fill earlier that day. But then class came and we put him away and sat in our seats. And that's how I traded a little snake for some milk and had an awesome day. Of course, more happened today than just that, but were I to write the thousand details that made up this day, I'd be here forever and tomorrow would never come. Suffice it to say that it was a nice day.
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