Wrong End of the Snake

WRONG END OF THE SNAKE

IN AGE THERE IS WISDOM

May 06, 2018

It was springtime. I was five years old. The morning was yet cool, but not so cool that I couldn’t play in my short pants and a short sleeved shirt. Father was sitting on the porch, sipping an unknown (to me) libation from a Mason jar. Watching me while I wandered about the yard, playing with anything that caught my interest. When a small snake crawled out of the weeds in the adjacent empty lot, I was naturally interested. I poked at it with a stick. It responded by curling up and shaking its tail, which seemed to have some kind of rattle on it. The rattle fascinated me. The more I poked at it the madder the snake got, and the tail set up a steady buzz. I finally deduced that the snake was a danger, an enemy, and began to beat it with my stick. Naturally the end of the snake that got my attention was the end making the noise. My Father watched silently, for a while, as I swung the stick in childish impotence at the noisy tail of the snake. 

Finally, he spoke - “Hey, Abe - you’re beating the wrong end of the snake!”

IN AGE THERE IS WISDOM

May 06, 2018

It was springtime. I was five years old. The morning was yet cool, but not so cool that I couldn’t play in my short pants and a short sleeved shirt. Father was sitting on the porch, sipping an unknown (to me) libation from a Mason jar. Watching me while I wandered about the yard, playing with anything that caught my interest. When a small snake crawled out of the weeds in the adjacent empty lot, I was naturally interested. I poked at it with a stick. It responded by curling up and shaking its tail, which seemed to have some kind of rattle on it. The rattle fascinated me. The more I poked at it the madder the snake got, and the tail set up a steady buzz. I finally deduced that the snake was a danger, an enemy, and began to beat it with my stick. Naturally the end of the snake that got my attention was the end making the noise. My Father watched silently, for a while, as I swung the stick in childish impotence at the noisy tail of the snake. 

Finally, he spoke - “Hey, Abe - you’re beating the wrong end of the snake!”