July 24, 2013 -- roses & copperheads

You'd think, as I did, that going outside to pick roses for a windowsill arrangement would be a nice, relaxing activity. Not so today. On the way to the roses I encountered a dead copperhead in the street (run over by a car). That wouldn't have been all that unsettling, except that my husband killed a copperhead in the garden a couple of weeks ago, AND while out picking the roses a neighbor drove by and told me another neighbor who walks his dog down our street had encountered 5 copperheads his summer. Chilling. So I came inside with my roses less relaxed than when I walked out. Still, here's the arrangement--little red Meidiland roses combined with some wild sumac foliage.