The "Bite of the Water Moccasin is Deadly" Story

It was an ordinary day. We were at the vets. This story is a little different, but certainly not unusual for our family. The Howry family and our family are spending a week at the A-frame house. We name the places we have stayed so we can remember them better. This was a neat house which was along a small tributary which led into the Elk River in Maryland. It's August and hot. Gary has his boat tied to the dock at the bottom of a slight hill in front of the A-frame. Just enough water for the motor. But, the boat can't take all of us to the river at one time because all the weight would ground the boat, so we have a canoe tied to the boat and some sit in the canoe while others sit in the boat. We leave the A-frame with all the beach equipment, coolers, lunch, etc. and walk down the hill to the boat and canoe. We then have to load everything in the canoe and boat and slowly work our way out of the tributary to the river where we travel to a small island where we spend the day sunning and water skiing. Every day there was a fight over who would sit in the boat and who would sit in the canoe. No one wanted to sit in the canoe, because it tipped over easily. Then we have to do everything in the reverse order at the end of the day. As I look back on this vacation I wonder, why did we do this? WE MUST HAVE BEEN NUTS!! There were 10 of us that vacation. Five in each family. But, we had one h**l of a good time. How else could I have remembered it. One day after we had returned and Gary was tying the boat to the dock, along the dock he saw a large snake. Wasn't moving. "Holy S**t," Gary yelled. Naturally everyone had to see it. Except our youngest, Tad. He had to touch it, and got bitten by it. Somehow the snake, which we thought was dead, bit him on the hand. Then it took off. "Geez, what king of snake was that," I asked. No one was sure, but then one of the kids said it was probably a water moccasin. "Aren't they poisonous," my wife said. She wasn't kidding either. Hey, I didn't know either. By now Tad thought he was going to die. He is maybe 6 years old and in tears. Then he gets the chills. We grab him and head to the nearest neighbor. Bang on the door and ask if they know if there is a doctor close by, since our son was bitten by a poisonous snake. Probably should have been in a coma by now, but he wasn't. "No doctor, but the guy that lives at the end of the road is a vet," they tell us. Quickly we take Tad down the road to the vet. "Yep, he's here," I say as I see someone in the house. He comes to the door and we introduce ourselves and explain our problem to him. I'm sure he can see the panic in our eyes. By now Tad is white from fright. He examines the bite and tells us it is indeed a bit from a water snake. Just a plain old water snake! And ....... they aren't killers like we thought. He gets some anti-bacterial cream, rubs it on the wound and tells us he will be find. RELIEF!!! Tad all of a sudden feels great. So do Carol and I. Wow, and he didn't even charge us for his services! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - In memory of my good friend Gary.