In my book, It Happened In The Hill Country, Jill Murray and her dog, Simon, rescue a young boy from a snake-infested pond in an area she and her brother refer to as Snake Hollow. Here's a quick peek:
The cypress trees had grown tall along the water's edge, their branches creating a gloomy dome of foreboding shadows. The air was still and stagnant. It feels like I'm on another planet, thought Jill. It's so different from the sunny hilltop just a few yards away!
But it wasn't the gloom and darkness of the place that terrified her. It was the strong, musky odor she'd hoped never to experience again—the stench of cottonmouths.
Although It Happened In The Hill Country is a work of fiction, Jill's experience at Snake Hollow is based on something that happened to me when I lived in San Antonio. It was late fall and I got a call from a friend who invited me to go fishing with him at a pond he and some of his buddies had discovered. Looking back, I'm sure it was private property because I can recall working our way over a couple of barbed wire fences with our poles and tackle box.
It was a long hike from the car to the pond through some very tall weeds. I remember being concerned about rattlesnakes. "Don't worry," my friend assured me. "We were out here the other day and didn't see any snakes. Besides, they're more afraid of you than you are of them."
Hold Up! Side note: I've always hated the expression, "It's more afraid of you than you are of it" — I mean, think about it . . . how does anyone know this for sure? When it comes to snakes, I feel fairly certain that my degree of fear far outweighs that of a slithering reptile's!
Anyway, when we finally arrived at the pond and I saw the dark, murky water, I was ready to head back to the car. "I'm not eating any fish from this pond," I announced. "The water looks disgusting and this place smells bad."
I agreed to stay for a while since we'd driven all the way out there, but after fishing for thirty minutes without a nibble, I grew impatient. As I was making my way over to where my friend was to let him know I was ready to pack it in, something in one of the low-hanging tree branches caught my eye.
"Snake!" I exclaimed, pointing upward as I quickly retreated back to the spot where I'd been fishing.
To my utter horror, my friend looked at me very calmly and said, "Yeah, there a several snakes in the trees. They're hard to make out, but if you look closely you can see them. They're just sunning themselves."
He pointed up to another tree limb. Sure enough, there were two smaller snakes coiled among the branches catching the late afternoon sun.
"They won't bother us if we don't bother them," advised my friend. (Okay, in my opinion, this is another lame-o expression—and, in this case, one I wasn't hanging around to test out!)
The trip back to his car was much faster than our initial trek to the pond. I never went back to "Snake Hollow" but I assure you, over the years I've dreamt about it many times!
So, back to the title of this blog: Why You May Be Dreaming About Snakes Right Now
According to DreamDictionary.com, there's some psychology behind our "snake dreams" —
FEAR: To have dreams about snakes can actually represent fears you may have in part of your waking life. So, any situation in which you feel tense, anxious or concerned, or potential danger, then you may see snakes in your dreams.
Hidden or Forbidden Knowledge: Snakes, by nature of the way they move, undetected, and perceived as relatively hidden, can represent something you should not know about. Perhaps there is something in your waking life you don't want to accept or believe.
Change or Transformation: Snakes shed their skin and this is perceived as a form of rebirth and so this can symbolize transformation or change.
Interesting stuff for sure!
On another note, I'm pleased to share that the Kindle version of It Happened In The Hill Country is now available.
If you haven't watched the YouTube trailer for the book yet, here it is:
You can find all three versions of It Happened In The Hill Country on Amazon:
Closet ClotheSure Update
As we continue to cruise into May, here's this week's Closet ClotheSure report. This week, I'm not gonna make everyone wait to see what I've decided. Much to my husband's delight, all four outfits are going bye-bye!
I'll give you a blow-by-blow later on in the week!
I'm calling this week, The Long & The Short of It!
From The Garden -
The magnificent elephant ears!
Until next time - stay safe, my friends and remember—God is in control & hope is on the move!
Smiles,
Monica