Blue Shoes and Rattle Snakes

The Realtor sent the "sign guy" back out to put up a second for sale sign on our property.  He told us that this is the season Rattle Snakes start to look for holes to spend the winter.  He said they are out and he's seen and killed quite a few on his property lately.  He was warning us to be careful.

Every year, in January there is a "Rattle Snake Roundup" nearby.  It's a little festival that attracts all kinds of people.  We went the first year we were here.  Yes, there were a lot of snakes.  They of course kill the snakes, after milking their venom.  Although not a snake lover, I do believe animals are put here for a reason and I don't know how I feel about it. 

I copied the following information about the procedures for capturing the snakes.  I do not approve of this method or gathering snakes as it also kills anything else that's in the hole.

Typically, 300-600 rattlesnakes are collected annually for Georgia rattlesnake roundups, but some years have yielded more than 1,000 snakes. Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes make up the vast majority of the collected snakes, although a small number of timber rattlesnakes are also entered. The standard method for collecting snakes is to dig them 
out of gopher tortoise burrows or force them out by introducing gasoline fumes through an inserted garden hose. Both methods are harmful—and often fatal—to the tortoise and other burrow inhabitants.

 I certainly don't want any poisonous snakes running around our property and I can understand why people with outside animals and children want to kill them.  I don't think we'll be killing any Rattle Snakes...hopefully we won't find any. I'd be afraid of getting bitten.  One year when Al was gone, I was walking up to the mailbox and saw some sort of large snake sunning himself on the driveway up by the mail box, which is a long way from the house.  I had been looking upwards in the trees checking out the blooms, and almost didn't see him.  I think it may have been a Rattle Snake.  Al saw one last year near the same area. Hopefully if there are any, they will stay in the woods and not by the house.

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Al has been having problems with his feet for the past year or two.  It started with pain in his heels and then on to the entire bottom of his feet.  He went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Plantar Fascitis.  He got injections in his heels but unfortunately still has problems.  We have to find soft soled shoes for him.  He has a pair of croc-like shoes he got at Walmart that have worked well.  When we went to the consignment shop last week to collect some of our unsold items, I found a pair of powder blue Crocs for $4.  They fit so we bought them, despite the fact that they look a little feminine!

How do you like his pretty blue shoes?

He says they are really comfortable and he likes them better than the ones he has from Walmart.  He just has to be careful that he doesn't accidentally wear them away from the house!  Of course he's already gotten black paint on them, but we don't really care...maybe a little more black paint would help them!  I'm going to order him another pair in a nice brown.  Although I really don't think Crocs are the best looking shoes, when you have problems with your feet, comfort is the main thing.

Our weather has heated back up again, and we're up to 98 or so every day.  Our cooler weather was short lived.  We woke up this morning to 75 degrees...a bad sign of what is to come!  We badly need some rain.  The grass is starting to get brown and that's not what you want to see when you're trying to sell your house.