Anne and I are deck people. We have had a deck for most of the last three decades, and during good weather we spend a lot of time on it. At the end of the day, we relax with a drink, often have supper, and do a lot of entertaining there.

Basically, the deck is our outside room. Adjacent to the deck is The Dead Tree. It stands there like a totem, very sculptural in its appearance. It’s a favored perch for birds and Rocky, the Demon Squirrel. I usually see the Effing Chipmunk running from the strawberry patch towards it. I’ve photographed The Tree dozens of times under many different conditions.

A couple of evenings ago, I noticed something kind of odd. Little Wayne was half-way up the tree. Now I know black rat snakes go pretty much anywhere they damn well please, but I’ve never seen one climb a dead tree before. And this one was not only up the tree, he was disappearing inside the tree.

Obviously I know squat about Black Snakes, so I did a little more research and found that not only do they climb trees, they spend a lot of time in trees. Much of their diet is derived from the various creatures that inhabit trees. Now I wonder what LW was going after. I’m sure there are plenty of insects, and I guess it’s possible mice are nesting there. The birds that nested in The Tree this spring are gone. There is a chance that Little Wayne may have been going after the Effing Chipmunk.

If that was the case, all I can say is “ROCK ON YOU WEIRD LITTLE DUDE!”