Raining her in the Lowcountry. Like, really raining! The first night there was thunder that shook the house, flashes of lightning to often, large, and close they lit up the house, and even a heavy, if short, hail storm. We got up at 5am to the street flooded over a foot deep from one side to the other.
The storm kept me up all night…the boys woke up and peered outside and said, “it rained?” Sigh. Boys.
Because the water is always deepest right at the end of our driveway the boys came and went on their bikes from the second drive at the end of the yard (actually it is a glorified patch of gravel, sand, and leaves) It was there they encountered the second of our much loved reptilian residents….our black rat snake.
Gorgeous! Right? I love that we have so many kinds of reptiles here…and a fine assortment of amphibians as well, but that is a topic for another day.
We have anoles, both our native Carolina (green) anole
but also the introduced Brown anole
We have Fence Lizards, the only spiny lizards native here 
And of course an abundance of snakes, turtles, tortoises, alligators…the list goes on and on. It is a great place to raise kids…so much to explore, so many amazing animals to appreciate and love and protect.
I was tickled and delighted the boys came up to the house thrilled about finding the big rat snake out in the rain, making his leisurely way up the magnolia tree, where the thick leaves will provide some protection from the storms.
Looking forward to seeing him again one lazy afternoon, basking in the morning sun.
Pamela C Reese 