Me and Marlin Perkins of Wild Kingdom
My first memory after
my new neural networks were laid down and following my
neighborhood excursions was of my family and I driving to
North Carolina.
I was about five years of
age.
It was the summer
before kindergarten. We were staying at my mother’s sister
and brother in-law’s house. My Aunt and Uncle were
sharecroppers that rented a small white washed tin roofed
shack set up on cinder blocks. They grew tobacco, cotton,
peanuts, corn, and watermelons as their main cash crops,
especially tobacco.
My sister and I loved
it when my uncle would take us for rides on his tractor.
One morning my Uncle drove us
on his tractor to distant part of the acreage that he was
leasing. On the way across the acreage I spotted a green
snake moving across the road quickly. The sight of this
beautiful reptile filled me with excitement and I cried out
for my uncle to stop so that I could catch the snake. Even
at that age, I knew all about reptiles; this was because my
mother who was a prolific reader would take me with her
whenever she went to the Norristown library for her book fix
ever since I was born and with the addition of the new
advancement of my brain, I was especially knowledgeable
about the world around me and eager to show everyone that
would listen - my expertise.
When I was about three
years of age, I showed an interest in all books that dealt
with animals, prehistoric animals, and mythology. At first I
remember going for the books more for the pictures and
eventually by the age of five, I was reading subjects of
interest that normally adults would read. By first grade, I
read Jack London’s book, “Call of the Wild”, “White Fang”,
“To Build a Fire” and a few books by other authors were “The
Iliad”, and “The Odyssey”, and every nature book or book on
mythology that I could get my hands on.
By the time I entered
first grade I had become a very proficient at reading. At
any rate, I had such an interest in animals, especially
amphibians and reptiles. I was able to give seminars to my
relatives on most of these creatures physical description,
location, mating habits, food preferences, number of
offspring they would bear, and if they their offspring were
born live or if they simply laid eggs.
My relatives sometimes
felt as if Marlin Perkins of “Wild Kingdom” was giving them
a seminar.
Sometimes, adults that
met me for the first time, would give me a double take,
thinking perhaps a midget, instead of a kid was giving
seminars on reptiles and amphibians.
Anyway, as my Uncle
approached the snake, not only did my uncle not stop for me
to catch it, to my horror he ran it over. I suppose my uncle
did this because he hated and feared snakes. There was
nothing that I could say or do to persuade my uncle to stop
after he ran the poor critter over.
As soon as we got back
to his house I snuck away a little later so that I could
double back and get the snake. Even at the five and a half
years of age I knew that I had to sneak out.
My mother would have
never allowed me off my uncle’s main property. I had to
break one of her rules if I wanted to get the green snake.
It was still there. The
snake still had movement, but it was apparent that it was
broken and injured very badly. It was a rough kneeled green
snake, (not the smooth scaled green snake). From the volumes
of books that I had read, I knew they lived in vines and
love to eat insects, lizards and sometimes, very small mice.
My mother and her
relatives all hated and feared snakes and they had always
been more than a little disturbed with my fascination with
reptiles. So, when I brought the snake back to the house,
casually and proudly holding it, to say that they showed
their alarm would be putting it mildly.
However, I was so well
versed about reptiles that I was able to convince my mother
that the snake was harmless. Especially when I pulled out
one of my “Golden Books” on reptiles and amphibians of the
United States.
There I was, at just
over five years of age, in my glory, giving a seminar on the
life habits of the rough kneeled green snake. Unfortunately
my joy was short lived. The snake’s life force was starting
to ebb and movement was diminishing.
I was praying to God that the
injured snake would live as I tried to clean its wounds.
Eventually the snake
stopped moving and died. My entire body was racked with
grief. I wept horribly the entire time as I gave the snake a
formal burial behind my relative’s house.
I wondered why God did not
grant my wish and I thought how terribly unfair that his
snake should die, and then memory fades…
