Tuesday, November 3, 2009

ON THE ROAD FROM WHITE TO BLACK


About a month ago, Joshua started TaeKwondo - and he loves it. Here's some vids of our new martial arts student beginning his journey from white belt to black belt.












Til next time,

Paul

A NOT SO LITTLE CREEPY CRAWLY


Driving back from a friend's house, my attention was arrested by something on the road. I was listening to my Spanish CD's and focusing on the correct pronunciation of the Spanish word for "I remember" that I didn't actually clue in as to what it was until I was nearly on top of it. Half stunned (as this was the closest I've been to an uncaged large snake), I drove past it and stopped the car about 20 feet past it. Grabbed my camera. Stuck my head out the window and took some pics.

It almost seemed to be posing for me - like it loved the camera. It just sat still, moving its head only slightly. But never looking at me. So I decided to get a little closer. I backed the truck up so the back tire (on the drivers side) was face to face with the little critter. Turns out, it wasn't so small. At least 6 ft and a diameter of about 6 inches or so. And turns out coming face to face with a snake is a sign of aggression. It began to coil and point its head straight at me. I can confirm, when a snake of this size does this, its a bit unsettling. So I rolled the truck ahead a bit and rolled video as it decided to exit stage left.

After doing a little research, it appears the snake might have been a Bushmaster - one of the planet's most deadly snakes. Gotta love Panama's outdoor zoo.



Ineffective snake charmer,

Paul