For #WorldSnakeDay, how about a snake story? It's also a birthday story. For my 50th birthday (ten years ago, ye gods), my middle son accompanied me for a day trip to the Mojave Desert and to the poppy fields in the Antelope Valley. We saw #Eddiethetortoise's wild cousins--

--provided welcome shade for some excellent horned lizard friends--

--then went on to the Antelope Valley for the California Poppy bloom. I had brought a point-and-shoot digital camera, but also the 4x5 large-format film camera I had at the time. Here's my son posed with it that day. He was a great photo assistant. The poppies were amazing and--

--I got some nice images, but mostly it was nice just to enjoy the spectacular southern California scenery with my son. By late afternoon we headed west across the Antelope Valley toward I-5, toward home and cake. As we drove along the two-lane highway, we passed a pickup--

--parked off the road with a man standing next to it. As we passed, my sharp-eyed son said, "There's a snake by the truck!" So I pulled over, stopping maybe a hundred yards past the man. We walked back to him, and yep, there was a snake near him on the sandy shoulder. Here it is:

--It's a Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer) a common, harmless species. It wasn't large, maybe 3 feet long. We said hello to the man, who was staring at the snake uneasily. He said he'd seen it as he was driving, and stopped because he didn't want someone to run it over. But--

--he wasn't sure what to do next. He explained that he'd grown up on a ranch nearby, and that he knew gopher snakes were great rodent-hunters and fascinating animals. He said that when he was a kid he caught them all the time. But somehow, as an adult, he'd become afraid to--

--touch them. He was sort of frozen; he wanted to move the snake to safety, but was afraid to touch it and couldn't find a stick to nudge it with. I offered to move it. He said, "That'd be great, if you wouldn't mind." So I picked it up. The snake was calm. It seemed just fine--

--being held. I let my son hold it too, then I asked the man if he wanted to touch it or hold it. He thought about it then said, "No, but if you could just let me look at him for a minute." So I held the snake toward him, and they gave each other a long look, then the man said--

--"Okay." I then walked ten or fifteen feet off the road and put the snake down. We watched as it moved off and disappeared into a field. The man said, "Thanks for doing that." I said, "Thanks for for stopping for it. Most people wouldn't." Then we all shook hands--

--and my son and I walked back to our car and drove off.

As we pulled away, I could see the man still standing there, looking off into the field.

Best birthday I ever had.