Frabjous long weekend in the High Sierras – camping at Calaveras (near Arnold with friends of the family, then with parents near Pioneer. The only escape from heat was to play in the Stanislaus river, where I promptly stubbed a toe HARD on a submerged boulder. Nearly broke it, and bloodied two pairs of socks, but managed to limp through the rest of the weekend.
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A bit ago, Miles took a fresh interest in the reptile cage in the garage, which resulted in a trip to the local pet store, where he immediately fell in love with a baby corn snake. A few days later, we ended up at the East Bay Vivarium, learning all about the vicissitudes of snake ownership, why constrictors make the best pets (their natural coiling reflex makes them want to hang on to your fingers rather than darting away), the process of “pinkie” feeding, etc. And just like that, we’ve got a new family member.

After a three-day waiting period for the Motley Corn Snake to settle in and get comfortable, we fed him his first live baby mouse – a visceral but fascinating process that went smoothly (some baby snakes can be picky eaters, but we got lucky). Blew our minds how a 12″ snake with a tiny jaw could wrap its jaws around something twice the diameter of his own body, but he did, effortlessly.

Gave him two days to digest, and were then able to start handling him. He’s a squirrelly little bugger, anxious to escape and not yet comfortable being handled, but since we’re raising him from a pup, we’ll have the opportunity to acclimate him to humans daily.

He’ll eventually grow to 4-5′ long, and will graduate through the ranks of eating pinkies, fuzzies and hoppers. With luck, he’ll be with us for 15-20 years, well into Miles’ adulthood.

Name is still unsettled, and M’s idea “Repticepticle” has already been bypassed in favor of “Leonard.” Remains to be seen whether that one will stick. But for now, welcome to the family Leonard!

Growing up, my brother and I were sometimes treated to amazing stories from the time our Dad spent on Coast Guard Cutters Chautauqua and Taney in the 1950s (see also: His home movie of the hazing ritual young recruits went through upon their first crossing of the Internal Date Line: Pollywogs). Recently, he wrote down some of his memories of working in the boiler room on an original steam ship, the intensity of the seas they endured, and the life of an old salt. It’s an experience that’s largely gone from this modern world, and I wanted to share it here for posterity (with his permission).

Jim Hacker served in the US Coast Guard from 1955-1959. He was on the Taney in 1955 and the Chautauqua 1959, Cape St. Elias Lighthouse 1957 and various buoy tenders in-between.

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