Opinion

Snakes on a CD

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

I enjoyed listening to a review copy of back-to-basics entrepreneur, and Open Forum contributor Bill Donze's latest collection of stories -- about encounters with snakes.

His audio CD "28 Snake Tales from South West NE and North West Kansas," subtitled "6 inches long to over 16 feet. They are watching you!" is available at his "store," a mobile snack van that is a common sight near the swimming pool, park and schools.

Donze probably wouldn't admit it, but he's a pretty shrewd marketer, coming out with a snake product just in time to ride on the coattails of the "Snakes on a Plane" cult movie set to be released this weekend.

I don't know if the South Platte River valley qualifies for "Southwest Nebraska," but my wife chided me for not including a couple of her snake stories in Bill's collection.

When she was about 4 and her brother about 5, she found herself backed against a tree with a small rattle snake coiled and ready to strike. After her brother beat the snake to death with a stick, they had trouble convincing her mother it was a rattler -- until her step-father presented her with the rattles.

Her younger brother, Tracey, was an accomplished cross-country runner in high school, and was a common sight for motorists along Highway 30, as he ran 10 miles away from town before turning around to head back.

One early fall day, just as he turned around, a rattler struck.

Because they were used to seeing him run along the highway, no motorists stopped to give him a ride.

To compound the situation, he didn't want to get blood on his new running shoes, so he took them off while he ran back to town, barefoot.

He was none the worse for the incident, although he used crutches for a while and had to endure the nickname, "Fang."

I don't know if his co-workers at Valmont have picked up on the moniker or not.

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