Jeannette McCurdy was a checkered garter snake. She lived in our backyard until this morning, when she was discovered deceased on the neighbor’s driveway.
Before her untimely demise, Jeannette looked something like this:
She was a lovely little snake, with a nice yellow stripe down the middle of her back. She was about 10 inches long. We don’t think she made it to full adulthood.
My children gathered with their neighbors (also 8 and 6) to put Jeannette to rest. First, they determined she was a girl. Then they named her. Then they chose a resting place in a flowerbed. Then, while wailing loudly, they gathered flowers and other decorations to mark her gravesite.
Finally, they added a headstone with her initials on it:
After that, they went inside to eat and visit, which is what one always does after a funeral.
Rest in peace, our reptilian friend.
Categories: The Kids
Flabby Brain 
Miserere Dominus, miserere Dominus, Serpens mortuus est.
Why am I suddenly thinking of Yorkies?
Well, that beats the funeral I was forced to organize for a giant wood roach that I killed in the garage last year in the presence of my girls. :)