Sad Morning today

[mrt]

About 4 years ago I had talked to two of my childhood friends and brothers living in Bay City over Corpus Christi way. A long time ago while I was already gone from Houston it seems everyone moved out and when I finally came home in 2005 and one short stay of 30 days in 1989 I couldn't find any of my friends it had been so many years. Well I finally found the two brothers and called them and the conversation moved to another of our childhood friends who lived across the street and my best friend. The brothers told me that they hadn't heard from him in over 15 years. He was best man in my wedding as I was his many many years ago. I told the two I would try and find him or at least find if he were still living. It took a long time but finally I did find him and he was dead and in the National Cemetery Houston. I call this morning and spoke with one of the brothers and gave him the bad news. I ask about his brother and since I last talked to him he had a bout with throat cancer and lost a lot of inner mouth but he is doing fine and so far cancer free. I have to make myself not wait 4 more years to call again, but who knows it could be my curtain call before the other two. On a different note, this morning I walked into my kitchen and washed something in the sink and a pretty good size snake crawled across the backboard of the counter top. Scared the crap out of me ! The only good snake is a dead snake but this one went down between the counter top and wall and hopefully got to hell out. He must have come in via the plumbing for the front sinks... One good thing about snakes they won't enter an area where there is noise or activity. His color was like a rattle snake but I doubt seriously it was a rattle snake, they aren't into coming into human habitats. I think it probably was a non poisonous snake and just came in out of the heat and maybe snack on a few mice, got lots of those critters too. The property I live on was once a crawfish pond years ago and also a wooded area behind me. Got squirrels and owls to name a few other critters. No Bears, these coon asses here killed all the black bear that were placed in the swamp 4 miles from me. It was said in 1970 that the feds had place 25 Bear in that swamp area but not one was ever reported as killed. Maybe the snakes got them.