SUH-NAP!

I love summer.

Partly because, being a teacher, I am lucky enough to not be working.

But also because I LOVE LOVE LOVE going camping and spending time outdoors.

When I say camping, I mean, preferably, far enough up north so that bears are my neighbours – not a WalMart or McDonalds.

And I also don’t mean camping in a forty foot trailer. Although we did finally bite the bullet several years and buy a tent trailer so that we no longer had to sleep on the ground and we had somewhere to go when it was torrentially raining.

Correction. So the KIDS AND I had somewhere to go because even when it was raining, you could always find Rob outside – just under an umbrella!

As much as Rob also loved outdoors and water and camping, he was unbelievably afraid of snakes.

One year, we were camping on Lake Huron and we were swimming in the lake, just off of a bunch of flat diving rocks. Rob and I were in the water and the kids were sitting on the wet rocks splashing around. All of a sudden, I saw what I thought was a shadow in the water. I wasn’t afraid or worried but I was curious so I said to Rob,

“What is that?”

At the same moment, we realized that the “shadow” was actually several seemingly large water snakes! We both swam over to the rocks to get out of the water. I got there first but only seconds before Rob. I went to shift my weight onto the rocks and pull myself up out of the water when my 6’4″ husband grabbed my bathing suit strap and SUH-NAP!!! Pulled me back into the water over his shoulder so that he could get up on the rocks faster!

NICE!

I was so surprised that I had been flung back in the water that I was laughing and forgot about the snakes for a second. It seems that the SPLASH I made upon re-entry scared them away anyway so I was safe!

Lesson Learned? If your swimming partner is afraid of snakes, point them out to him/her AFTER you are safely on the rocks!