Garden garter, home

The heat and the drought—not a good combination—continues, and my anxiety level is starting to reach a point where I'm seriously considering meteorological psychotherapy or even anti-anxiety meds. That said, the well continues to provide adequate water and we continue to practice every water conservation trick we can imagine. Perhaps we could learn another strategy or two from this Garter Snake, whose fat body I detected in a sunny spot where the grass meets the garden. As quietly as I could manage, I followed the rows of scales to the reptile's head, which was, of course, hidden in the cooler shade underneath flowers and leaves. The snake is already endowed with marvelous physiological adaptions to preserve internal moisture and the animal is a master of keeping drought at bay by behaving properly—restricting its activity, and, when it has to move, doing so at night or in the coolest parts of the day. I put my hat back on and followed this lead... inside.