Sneaking in a Snake Story

Two of my good friends have been urging me to write about my growing-up years and the unique and often unusual experiences I had with a father whose occupation involved educating others about the value and virtues of reptiles and amphibians.  So, here's a story for you.  When I was eight years old, my father was lecturing about reptiles in schools in the panhandle states, with most of his time spent in Texas.  My mother and I continued to live in Wisconsin so I could have a stable elementary education.  Whenever there was a school break, however, we would join up with my father wherever he was lecturing in the U.S.  That particular Thanksgiving, Mom and I flew to San Antonio, Texas.  Lyndon Johnson was our President at that time, so we took in the usual tourist sites, including President Johnson's boyhood home.  We saw The Alamo.  We lollygagged poolside at our motel.  We visited a Methodist church where Mom and I attended a Sunday School class. We also spent a day hunting diamond-back rattlesnakes on the ranch of a teacher whom my dad had met while lecturing in a school.  To me, this was a common type of childhood experience.  It was always a mixture of "normal" and "extraordinary." Our home was always filled with college students studying various levels of biology degrees, television and newspaper reporters, learned people in the field of herpetology, all wishing to talk with and learn from my dad.  Our "vacations" were spent thinking, talking and looking for snakes.  It was all so matter of fact that it never seemed strange to me at all.  It was just what we did and the sweet memories make me wish those days had stretched out even longer.  Do you wish to hear more snake stories?  Just let me know!