Bambi's Not So Friendly Neighbors: Part 2

...like I said, it's been like something out of National Geographic out at the apartment the last couple of weeks. This one, well, this felt a lot more like Man vs. Wild...so here goes:

One afternoon, I'm getting ready to load some stuff into my car to take to my sister's house, and I start to go out of the back entrance of the apartment (because it's somewhat closer to my car), and there's this 3-4ft black snake (with a somewhat faint white spotted pattern on its back) that is about 2 feet away.

My initial reaction: Run back inside!!!

So, as I try to figure out what to do, I tried to spook it away with a few random objects lying on the porch (nothing heavy...a few things to shoo it away it with to show it that it was un-welcomed). Well, rather than getting spooked, it started coming at me.

Then, it gave that "I'm threatened" pose where it curls up at the "neck" (if snakes have necks) in striking position. I thought I saw the characteristic triangle-shaped head of a venomous snake...and that's when the machete and the broom came out.

At first, I figured I'd distract it with the broom and then kill it with the machete...but then when I went outside, the adrenaline "fight" response kicked-in and I just started running towards it with alternating strikes from the broom and the machete striking the ground (picture this action like you would really bad karate chops). Apparently, it decided it had had enough and started fleeing.

...and then I somehow struck it with my machete. I believe I injured it pretty badly, even though it still escaped.

Later on through some internet research I realized that it was actually a rat snake and not venomous. I felt horrible, because even though that thing was pretty big, and probably dangerous to have around when it's not afraid of you enough to go away when it sees you, I had injured the creature that probably saved my apartment from mice & rats. I wish I had either just killed it, or left it alone rather than thinking that the poor thing probably suffered before it died later that day.

Sometimes, I feel like God tends to use nature to teach me things...probably because I love nature. I know...this sounds ironic after I just told you I mortally wounded a non-venomous snake...but this is an isolated incident (promise!).

Regardless, I think it says a lot about fear.

Sometimes, we fear things unnecessarily. The fear I experienced when I encountered that snake is the same fear that grips me when I worry about the future and all the what ifs (or what if nots) involved. It's the same fear I get when worrying excessively about making a living, the fear of being too weird to fit in, and the fear of taking a necessary risk.

What does fear really do? Well, one possibility is that it can move us into action...usually either you stay and fight, or you take off running. The other possibility is that it paralyzes you. In my opinion, neither is usually good.

When we take action out of fear, our actions are usually the result of a rash or irrational decision and can lead to us doing things we regret...like my machete striking that poor snake even though it did nothing other than give me a good scare. When fear paralyzes us...we let whatever we're afraid of continue to inflict fear, and disengage from doing anything about it. It would have been like me just standing out there 2 feet away from the snake that was coming towards me and not doing something to prevent a defensive (or even offensive...who knows, it could have been hungry!) bite.

I realize that you can't generalize fear as a wholly bad thing, and in this case I'm talking about fearing things we can't control.

What if I never get into dental school? What if I can't get a job? What if I created much more difficult obstacles for myself to now have to overcome due to past regrettable decisions? What if I take a risk and it doesn't work out?

If you read Psalms, David constantly reminds us that even our greatest fears (& worries) are nothing compared to God. Maybe David worried about his fears like I do and needed constant self-reminders...or perhaps he grew quickly in wisdom and was just passing on the information. The point is, God is simply bigger than any of our obstacles, and in the same way, He's bigger than our greatest fears.

I have to remind myself every day to trust that He's good, that He's in control, and that He's bigger than even the worst of nightmares.

Bambi's Not So Friendly Neighbors: Part 1.

The last several weeks have felt like a live episode of National Geographic. If you've read one of my first entries, you'll know that living in this apartment has meant some awkward encounters with Bambi & friends. To share some of my most memorable encounters with nature since then, here's a few:


The Fox

One afternoon I actually spotted a fox about 10 ft. from me and my car as it went across some lawn into the woods. I was actually pretty excited (and sad that I didn't have a camera on me)...I'd never been that close to a fox before. Apparently, it didn't see me as a threat because it stopped, glanced at me, and then went on its merry way. Either way, it was small enough that I could have probably punted it into the woods if I had to. Don't worry, I love animals...but in a survival situation, I'm not above punting.


The Geese

One Sunday as I left Truelife Church (in a fairly commercial area of Raleigh), there were two Canadian geese just chilling right outside the entrance. At first I thought they were those plastic fake geese that people put out in front of their lawns (although I did wonder why either a Pump It Up Kid's playspace or a minimalist/modern furniture store would want to put out fake Canada geese in their lawn)...and then one of them started honking and making threatening gestures at me while the other one completely ignored me and went to town on engulfing patch of grass. I did snap a picture while the geese were still friendly, however.


The Spider

The other week, while getting off an exit ramp from the highway, a glimmer of yellow showed up momentarily at the edge of the bill on my baseball cap. I became a little concerned because I knew that the glimmer of yellow was neither a) the sun nor b) a golden lock of hair belonging to me...because I was in the car (thus no direct sunlight) and I don't have either golden or long hair. I get to a stoplight, took my cap off to inspect it, and AAAAH!...out of nowhere a medium-sized, golden-yellow spider appeared on top of my cap. If you know me, you know that spiders and I aren't exactly friends...so I spazzed out and threw the hat across the car into the passenger floor mat. I have to say that whoever was next to me at the stoplight at this point must have laughed hysterically at the inconvenient situation that had developed inside my car. I'm happy to say that once I got to my sister's house, I disposed of the spider...although I always check my caps now to make sure there are no spiders on them.


The (Flying) Squirrel

One of my favorite nature moments happened one morning as I went to clean the window to my room from the outside of the apartment.

Here's how it went down (no pun intended): It was around 8AM, and I went outside to finish up my moving out cleaning. All of a sudden, there's this squirrel flying diagonally overhead, seemingly out of nowhere. Apparently, it was sneaking around on the balcony above me and I startled it.

The squirrel startled me in return as it completely missed the tree branch and flopped onto the grass. A little dazed, it took a moment, then hopped up suddenly (as if remembering that it was running away) and ran into the woods. I have to admit that I laughed pretty hard at the poor fella's flying jump miscalculation.

Well, that's it for now!