Monday morning drama

Today's scan of the Brookland, Ark. post office community bulletin board yielded this lost cat notice. I tweaked the image with Photoshop for maximum readability and resolution of the cat picture, which is why it looks a bit strange.

If you live around here and see this little guy, please help him get home.

I rode Maria's K75S down to collect the mail and to top off the gas tank. I was hoping for some phenomenal fuel economy on the previous tank since I rode home from Cape Girardeau, Mo. without saddlebags and in a presumably more aerodynamically clean configuration. Nope. I got 40.85 mpg, which is actually down a bit from the usual mileage. I have no idea why.

I'd forgotten what a pure pleasure this bike is to ride. It's nimble and responsive and always gets admiring compliments wherever it goes. This morning was no exception when a woman getting out of her car remarked, "Nice bike. They're making them look really futuristic, aren't they?" She couldn't believe it was 15 years old.

I'd left the garage door open when I left for the post office because I didn't have a remote control handy and didn't want to futz with the keypad on the door frame.

When I rolled back into the garage from the post office/gas station run some movement caught my eye and I spotted a small snake hauling ass across the floor and heading for safety under a row of shelves.

I grabbed a push broom and herded him toward the door, but he sought shelter under one of the large sheets of cardboard we keep on the floor to protect it from oil stains. So I thumped the bejeezus out of the cardboard where he was hiding, then swept his mostly lifeless form outside onto the driveway.

Maria came out and photographed him before scooping him up with a spade and tossing him into the weeds at the edge of the yard. You can't really get a sense of scale from the photos but he was about a foot long and a little fatter than a No. 2 pencil. I think he was a very young blue racer - non-venomous and hardly a threat, but I hate snakes and don't want them in my house.

For the record, this is the first snake I've seen on our property this calendar year. I'm sure they're out there, but they've all kept out of my way. Until today.