Snake in the Grass

Ah, ciggies and afternoon sips of cold coffee on the patio. . .standing there like a homeless woman, in my miss-matched plaid pajama ensemble.

Suddenly a flash of movement on the ground and a slither through the dried grass and fallen scorched leaves. A small snake moves with incredible speed to take shelter under Mr. Patio Tree.

Mr. Patio Tree was growing when I got back here in the summer of 2015.

I had left his fortress of solitude in March 2014, thinking I was off to better things, thinking I needed to shake off the doldrums, wipe off the cobwebs, and do something different.

That proved to be an almost fatal move, but I am back and have watched Mr. Patio Tree grow.

He has overtaken the left corner where the trellis use to have pink roses through the years, but that my landlord cut back and killed.

I watched this tree grow literally from a random seedling, suspected as a weed, into a fully formed tree, growing in a snug space between the patio and the garage.

I have pruned Mr. Patio Tree just right so that his branches can still reach upwards in the small space of his residence. His branches can get past the buildings and the trellis.

He isn’t much to look at, his leaves are unremarkable. I figured out what he was this summer with…