Snake-O-Genic

<<------- This has to be one of the most adrenaline provoking pictures I have taken. I wish I could tell you what kind of snake it is but I can't. For now let us simply refer to it as Hugo.

The year was 1902 and I was hiking the jungles of Malaysia when my heel broke and I fell into a pit of vipers....

Hold on! Sorry, that was the more exciting version of the story that I have since fabricated in my head in order to avoid the pointed groans and tapping fingernails of my audience. However, you won't mind if I tell the real thing will you? Well, okay...as long as I don't have to pillow my underside from the vibration of your snores or ask Billy Mays to sell me some Drool Bam then I shall proceed.

The year was 2006 and I was on a tourist beach in Costa Rica (yeah I know...not quite so exciting). After laying on the beach and proceeding to turn the vibrant fusia color that is so popular among sunbathers, my friend and I heard the warning: Do not walk up the path along the beach; a large snake has been sighted. Naturally we got up and started for the path, my camera swinging happily from around my neck.
All of a sudden we saw him. He was wrapped contentedly around a branch about 10ft off to the side of the path. His multitude of colors glinted in the sun--greens, yellows, browns, grays, and whites--they seemed endless and dizzying. It took me awhile to find his head. My eyes followed around the never ending twists and curves of its body, searching for an end to that thick, beautiful and living rope. Finally I found it--it was looking right at me--studying me in the exact same manner I was studying it. What a beautiful creature. I thought to myself. How magnificent. Slowly I raised my camera and snapped a picture. The snake, Hugo, posed like a king (I think he knew he was).

Hugo has since stuck with me. His image forever burned into my brain as well as my computer. I find him humbling to look at. His beauty, his magnificence, his strength so much greater than mine. He truly is one of the great kings of not only the jungle but the world.