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“People always confuse writers with their ideas ... especially lady writers.” From the book “How to Save Your Own Life” by Erica Jong.
A black snake lives in the ivy. A beautiful, benign king snake, protector against rattlers, but a snake nonetheless, one of 4 to 5-foot proportion, her symbol of slithery horror and evil. When they were adding a room to the beach house, she would ask the carpenters to gather the snakes and take them down the cliff. She figured it would take a while for the snakes to work their way back up. Others disappeared but the king snake persisted, somehow making the climb past the wild fennel, past the house of gleaming tile to set up housekeeping in the ivy and a vacation spot in the stack of oak they burned in the fireplace.