Prickly, Slithery, Wispy

A number of holly bushes have tucked themselves among the other deciduous trees along the pond route, and I'm eager to see if any of them will produce berries. My understanding is that only the female holly bushes will do so (stands to reason), but I'm not sure how soon to expect the vibrant fruit. (Perhaps late fall if we think of holly as a Christmas decoration?) I snapped a shot of this prickly, shiny specimen to remind myself to keep an eye on its development.

As I did so, I stopped short. A garter snake was sunning itself on the path, and though it was motionless and quiet and "only" a foot long, it still gave me the heebeegeebees. I don't care for snakes. This week promises to be warm and sunny (we hit 82 yesterday), so I might still see these guys for a while yet. Don't tread on me.

The "wispy" part of my day took place both on the ground and in the sky. I'm assuming this is a spider web of some sort, but I haven't been able to accurately identify this cotton-like structure. So curious!

As I walked away from the pond just before dinner last night, a wispy message in the sky reminded me that "God's in His heaven and all's right with the world," no matter how prickly and slithery life may seem.