I am happy. And extremely relieved. My pet snake made it alive from California and is now with me here in Colorado: the last (but not least!!!) piece of my “Californian life” is now with me here, in my “new home”.
Of course, this has a huge symbolical meaning, at least for someone like me who attaches so much symbolical meaning to events and places and dates.
However, it’s also pure, untainted joy and relief.
It had been a very hard and heartbreaking decision for me to leave my pet snake behind in California when I moved out to Colorado last winter, although rationally it made the most sense and I knew she was in wonderful hands with one of my best friends in California. Still, I worried about my pet snake and missed her. And when I went to California during the summer to complete my move (getting my belongings shipped) from California to Colorado, I felt and immense joy at seeing my pet snake again and letting her crawl all over me. And I was distraught when I had to leave her behind again, albeit temporarily.
Once again, though, during the rest of the summer and autumn here, I was able to confine the sadness and concerns about my pet snake to a tiny corner of my mind (& heart) while I dealt with more pressing issues and often more intense emotional roller-coasters.
Then, this past weekend, my friend & I finalized the details to get my pet snake shipped to Colorado just in time for my birthday. And that’s when the employee at the vivarium, experienced and in charge of reptile shipments, told me that they could not guarantee live arrival of my pet because of the cold temperatures here in Colorado. All of a sudden, I felt my heart sink.
Had I waited over nine months, had my friends & I taken so much time and pain to ensure my snake would be well for all these months, for me to get a corpse here? Had I simply missed out on the last nine months of my pet snake to never see her alive again?
We were getting a “warm spell” here in Colorado in these past few days: nearly-freezing temperatures during the night (the real threat for the shipment of a reptile) but balmy sunny days. So the moment to ship my snake was now or next spring — and I just couldn’t wait another six months.
I was extremely worried and anxious. But with my head & heart, I decided to put it out of my mind: I had made my decision, I had “committed” (as rock-climbers say), and all I could do now was roll with it. And hope that the box I would pick up would contain a live snake rather than a corpse.
Fortunately, the box I picked up last night did contain a live snake. A sleepy, cold, suspicious, and probably super-freaked-out snake, but still ALIVE!!!
And so today I have a mission: to turn my own new, Coloradan home into a new home for my beloved pet snake, too.
The Little Prince and the Fox 