Is this why we are the way we are?

I hate snakes. Let's see, did I make myself clear? I HAVE AN INTENSE FEAR of snakes. It might be because of this place.

I've even went so far as to tell my children if they ever see me laying in the yard or pasture on my back (cause who would do that, right?) I've probably had a heart attack because I've seen a snake. They think it's funny, but I don't.

Maybe I could relate this fear to when I was little and saw my father chop a snake to death with a hoe when the snake had wrapped itself around one of our trees.

Maybe it's when my Grandpa Leatherman (who I love very much, but is quite a teaser, like when he would take out his false teeth for my sister and I when we rode with him in his tractor cab, and we would scream and scream, and then beg him to do it again!) But that's not what we're talking about..... Maybe it's when Grandpa Leatherman used to take my sister and I and mom on walks to this quaint little cabin.

His friend owns this, and it's right down the once gravel road by my Grandpa's house. I remember walking by the woods on the way there and seeing bleeding hearts, and a flower, I don't recall the name of, but it resembles an old fashioned pair of women's bloomers hanging on a clothesline, maybe "old man's britches?"

I remember going into this cabin and up the rickety steps inside to see the small room at the top. I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.

Anyway, we would take this walk, which was probably only 1/2 mile long, but seemed much longer to a kid with short legs. (I still have the short legs, but can walk longer distances :-) ) One time as we were walking, my grandpa (the teaser, remember) found a garter snake and threw it at us. I screamed at the top of my lungs and ran away hearing his chuckle behind me.

I forgave him of course, but haven't forgotten the act. It still makes me shiver. I can't even look at a picture of a snake in a book, it just gives me the willies. I don't know why, but I can probably honestly say, If I had been Eve in the Garden of Eden, there is no way I would've talked to that dumb snake!

Have you ever thought that maybe some, if not all of our intense dislikes are because of a certain thing that has happened in our past that we might have buried, but just can't seem to shake? Think about how teachers, who have their own babies don't often name them a name of a naughty child that has once graced their classroom.

I can't honestly say my intense fear of snakes stems from the two very vivid instances I mentioned earlier, but maybe.

I pass this cabin almost once a week. It's still by my grandparent's house, but it is in bad shape. I wonder if the steps inside are even still standing. I'm sure there are PLENTY of snakes roaming around it, but I'm not gonna be the one to go check. This cabin will always hold good memories for me, and the walks my grandpa and I once took.