dec 12 2022

 I had many comments on my ability to drive a tractor and I felt I must be honest ----tractor has power steering wonderful heat and air conditioning so once I've landed there I'm perfectly content for hours---- the part you cannot see is boosting me up with the other tractor to get in the seat to begin with -----   well it hasn't quite come to that but it will very shortly---- it does not have stereo sound and there are parts of me that find tractor driving a bit of a challenge but we manage

 

the trailer is full to go to the dump which is going to be very expensive but I need to get it empty to go pick up hay which is almost the same direction as the dump so I may as well make it one trip take a broom to sweep it out---- in the meantime that is assuming I could get down off the hill----if that one inch of snow is the gummy slippery kind I only have about 6 inches of distance between a tree and the house-----there's a big tendency to slide sideways so if that happens I could have a dented car but I don't think one inch is gonna matter... once we really get into snow season and I have the plow on that front I could drop the plow and straighten the world out but right at the moment  I ain’t got nuttin...... Also once I pay attention to snow ,   I back up into that area right now I've pulled up forward and I have to back out..

 

there was a large discussion about snakes this morning around the coffee pot ----rumor has it that there are two sizable snakes in the area .....one is at the bottom of our driveway under an absolutely ancient above ground swimming pool.. and the other is in the topsfield dump area which is now covered by the dirt out of the big dig.. rumour has it that those two places have a snake longer than six feet..

I've done a lot of snake jobs for animal episodes.. there was a woman named Cat who collected snakes and I would borrow those snakes from her on occasion ... one of the most spectacular jobs was one where they wanted a very colorful very small snake Reds and oranges and things to  crawl in and out of the orifices of a  skull.... thankfully she went with me for that job it was a very valuable snake... to people who like valuable snakes ...I don'.t ....except when they're going to make me money -------the other spectacular snake job I did was to drop what was to be 100 black Garter snakes.. whatever ...onto a fully set birthday party table with glittering glassware and full set silverware with the knives very carefully turned inward... the only reason I was successful at that one was because I had watched the mythbusters ,,one of my favorite shows, where they had tested to see whether they could yank a tablecloth out from under a banquet setting with a motorcycle... they were unsuccessful for several tries until they used basically what was Saran wrap between the silverware and the tablecloth.... with that.. yes they were successful... with a motorcycle to yank the tablecloth out, so remembering that  I decided something like that was the only way I was going to prevent having to crawl around the floor and try and capture stakes in their studio with all sorts of wires and cameras and stuff..  and rather than unset the table I had them very securely duct tape clear plastic to the edge of the table let it hang down with the tablecloth and then had all the studio help hold up the other edge and that did work we released all those snakes they all fell onto the table squirmed all over and fell into the plastic at which point I had to catch them and put them back in the box but you know it was a living..

 oh there is another snake story I forgot about this one. Umm this shot involved a man at his desk in the office on  

'hold" on the telephone..-theory being that he'd been on the phone so long that the plants that his office had grown from small plants to great big monster plants and the director wanted a stake to come up the telephone cord toward his face ....that put me behind the desk with a couple Garter snakes and we tried a couple times but it made the actor nervous and he blew his lines..... so we set up again and the director told him to look in the distance and don't pay attention to the snake which he did.... at which point the state got tired and drooped off the telephone cord down into the vicinity of his fly... not realizing that's what was happening, the the actor ignored it and the director said keep rolling so somewhere the the video of a snake where it looks like it's coming out of the man's fly etc.. not a problem

 

I am not a fan of snakes, and I never understood how Cat could sleep in an apartment with her 10 foot long Python or whatever it was who weighed more than she did.. But to her it was perfectly normal.  I asked her how she moved that snake around when she had to go anywhere with it and she said "I just get a few of my friends and  we put it in a canvas bag  and carry it"...... well if I had a snake that size let me tell you I can't think of a friend I have that would come and help me put that damn snake in the pillow case but  she did.