Mr Bitey is a Black Ratsnake. He's about 4 feet long. I've seen him a number of time around my house and garage, and have got quite close to take pictures of him. Which is why I think I must have stepped on him when he bit me. I'm actually glad to see that he's Ok after being stepped on. In this picture you can see that he is zig-zaggy (which I think he does when he's scared and trying to avoid detection) the way the light reflected off of his scales makes the zig-zags look like lumps. Hmmm. My photo hosting site seems to be down. Edited to upload image to GardenWeb This post was edited by bob_cville on Sun, Jul 13, 14 at 21:16

The day before yesterday the Tour de France went near or through the city of Lourdes in southern France. These pictures of the city are from the train as we went through several years ago. There is a Catholic shrine somewhere in the city that is believed to have healing powers. A week or so later, as we were flying out of nearby Pau, some people checking-in in front of us had all flown in that morning, had each traveled to Lourdes, filled a large plastic container with the "healing waters" and were flying out the same day. I got the impression that they were on some sort of missionary trip, to bring the waters to others unable to make the trip.

Other flowers in the yard right now this last one is a squash plant a friend gave me the seems to be on its way to taking over the entire garden and perhaps the entire back yard.

Gazania, don't sell yourself short! You produce spectacular photos, like your one above!! Nicole, how fun to be in a photo class. I love your picture. I have liked taking them in the past because they do get you out and taking lots of pictures. Having assignments always helped me progress. Susan, your picture is gorgeous too, very striking and I agree with you about Casey's hikes and the pictures that result!!! I would love to go there too someday. Mine is from a trip to Alaska about 12 years ago.