by Chandra Janean

Created on: August 26, 2008   Last Updated: September 21, 2008

Sipping my coffee, delighting in the morning dew on the garden as the sunlight sparkles on an exquisite spiders web, I begin to shiver and breathe in the smell of life around me. The song of thousands of birds enchants the air as it echoes through the massive trees and dipping canyons that lead down to the glistening coastal waters far below. I can not match the feeling of peace within my soul when I am working with the earth, hands delved into the cool moist soil that generates the lifeblood of my garden.

As the sun rises higher in the sky the shadows of the Great Oaks and Ponderosa Pines move away from my little plot, its warming rays fueling the growth of my sun loveing fruits, vegetables, and herbs. The microclimate of this niche that I call home is ever shifting and presents a curious variety of indigenous wildflowers and plants dappling the sandy topsoil surrounding my garden. The arid climate of the mountaintop is complimented by the coming and goings of the fog rising up from the sea below.

The gopher holes have declined in number due to the help of a welcome resident. A rather large 6 foot long gopher snake, who has found easy pickings in my garden, makes its sojourn through the beds of tomatoes and pauses for a warming repose in full sun. The summer growing season is coming to an end with abundant fall harvest assured. I find comfort in the rhythm of the earth, the seasons and its cycles. I appreciate the welcome sight of the insect predators like the spider, and the mammal predators like the gopher snake who help maintain the organic balance in my garden. I don't want to pollute the soil and groundwater with man made persistent chemicals. The mutually beneficial relationship between myself and the spiders and snakes is barely recognized unless pausing for enough time to reflect upon it.

It would all seem well enough, but then reality hits me like a ton of bricks two weeks later. I have inadvertently committed murder. Fencing around a garden is a normal sight and I did not forsee the tragedy that fence would cause. I came home from work one particular day, and I went about my ritual of watering the garden and pruning the plants. As I rounded the bed of herbs I was startled by the lifeless form of "my" resident gopher snake. He was an old snake, as could be determined by his portentous size, and he had been living a good life on the mountaintop that we shared in common. I did not expect that he could strangle himself within the garden fencing that he passed through to come and go from my garden. Whenever we make choices as humans, there are consequences, and while I never intended to kill any of the creatures near my home, my choice of fencing size led to this loss of life. I still remember the pleasure that gopher snake brought me in its life. I was happy that the gophers were leaving my plants intact because of its presence. The snake lingers in my memories and I learned a rare lesson about the fragility of life, and the impact of human choices.

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