Gabriel the Snake Wrangler

The river and the owl are talking to the night. The moon is casting dancing shadows in the forest when the wind is rustling through the verdant canopy and the pond nearby. I am mesmerized by the phantasmagorical visions created by the wind.

The sounds, the darkness, the moonlight, the visible stars, the dancing shadows of light streaming are the only evidence of life. But there is a web of life out there in the woods and in the pond.

Creatures large and small, birds, butterflies, a lone blue hummingbird come out of the woods during the day, grazing, or munching on acorns, weaving a beautiful carpet of life on which we all tread from time to time, aware of ticks and throngs of mosquitoes.

Many animals visit my yard, and I watch them in silence. One hummingbird flew by one September day; I have not seen any all summer long. The occasional human walks this far around the pond or to the edge of the woods. The most frequent visitor is Gabriel. His head of blond curls shines in the sunlight against the always green weeds and the shimmering pond.

This amazing and fearless nine-year-old little boy is a snake wrangler. Although color-blind, his passion is to catch and release snakes around the pond. He finds them in the corner of the pond where they built a nest under a pile of rocks. There are some venomous varieties, but Gabriel somehow can tell them apart by the pattern on their heads and bodies. He knows where to find them because snakes seldom venture out further than the 100-ft radius from their den.

Gabriel is amazing! He loves nature and all its critters. They do not raise children like this little boy anymore. Kids were raised into strong little humans who did chores around the house, cut wood, spent time in the wilderness and learned survival skills.

Playgrounds are silent and motionless now. Children stay indoors, seldom go outside to play, scrape their knees, run, to learn to take falls in stride, play in the park in the sandbox, on the merry-go-round, climb the jungle gym, and ride their bikes. If they do play outside at all on their playdates with other highly protected children, they wear helmets.