That time I saw a snake

A few days ago I did an internet search for a snake as I was researching this Jeep commercial. Now, I don’t know if the internets are this advanced but not more than a day later I was walking at the dog park and saw this:

I’ve heard stories of Alexa and other smart tech listening in on conversations and ads popping up on Facebook of things you’ve Googled, but this is a whole new level! Search for a snake online, find a snake in the woods. Creepy!

The snake slithered right across the path and then, of course, one of my dogs walked inches away from the snake even though I forbid her from doing that. Thankfully, it was just a harmless garter snake that didn’t bite. I watched in awe as it climbed a up this bush and up to the top where it rested overlooking those who may pass by.

I ran back to my car to get this Sony A6600 camera for better pictures but when I returned, the snake was long gone. Well, I say “long gone” when it actually could’ve just been inches away from my face, but I didn’t find it to get those better pictures.

Glad it wasn’t a poisonous snake, that’s #1. And #2, funny how things you’re interested in are what you wind up seeing. Like when you’re looking to buy a particular brand and model of car and then you see them everywhere around town.

Weird stuff. Anyway, thanks for stopping by! I’ll leave you with a short video of our new friend.

-Out of the Wilderness

Giving people back their trash after they litter, part 2

I reacted before I even stopped to think, “Is it wise to do this?” Just like the last time someone littered in a McDonald’s drive through, I hopped out of my car when the driver of a pick-up truck, parked in the parking lot of McDonald’s, rolled down his window and tossed an entired McDonald’s bag full of trash onto the paved parking spot between him and I. I was actuall backing out to leave but then I shifted into park, got out, picked up the trash, showed it to him through his window, and tossed it into the bed of his truck. Not to mention the truck bed was already full of various types of trash! If you don’t believe me, here’s the proof. You won’t believe what happened next.

Is this guy lazy or just careless? As I was driving away the driver got out of his truck, walked around to the back, grabbed the McD’s bag of trash and TOSSED IT BACK ON THE GROUND! WHO DOES THAT?

Take some pride in your city, man! He could’ve walked another 50 feet to a trashcan but I’m guessing laziness is a way of life for him. I genuinely want to know why people think it’s OK to casually discard their trash wherever they want.

The way he gets rid of things when they’re no longer convenient or needed makes me feel bad for the overweight woman I saw in the passenger seat. She’ll be next.

OK, rant over. Thank you for letting me vent! I know seeing people litter is a pet peeve of mine and I probably take it way too seriously. Call me old and crabby, I just believe in taking care of the things around us, God created this beautiful earth full of amazing things and I can’t stand when people, out of laziness especially, trash it.

-Out of the Wilderness

Is Cobra Kai a great show?

I know I’m late to the game on the “Cobra Kai” bandwagon but last week I signed up with Netflix and started watching. I had heard it was good but, to tell you the truth, it’s not good. It’s…

For adults, at least. If I had young kids, I’d definitely hesitate to let them watch, just because some of the subject matter is adult-themed. Mostly some of the language and a subtle joke here and there about sex or sex-related things.

Aside from that, they do a nice job sprinkling in references and scenes from the beloved 1980s Karate Kid movies. The old characters are reintroduced (except no sightings of Hilary Swank, The Next Karate Kid, yet) along with new characters and all the acting is great. Plus, there are a few fight scenes that seem to last 45 minutes, they are amazing and I can’t even imagine the work and time it took to choreograph those fights.

I’m totally hooked and at the same time, depressed. I finished season 3 yesterday and discovered season 4 may not be released until later this year.

If you watch, also pay attention to the transitions, especially in season 3. They cleverly take us from scene to scene. Maybe they did this in seasons 1 and 2 but I didn’t notice it until season 3.

Are you watching? Who is your favorite character and why?

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

Treat People With Kindness

I was chatting with a few teammates on my adult league softball team recently about how players sometimes get so mad on the field. Whether their anger is aimed at an opponent or an umpire, it happens all the time and all over the country (and the world?), and I couldn’t help but acknowledge that I’m part of that group, too.

With that in mind, a few minutes before our first game I added this song to the “softball 4” playlist on Spotify.

I’m 100% sure Harry was thinking of adults playing slow-pitch softball when he recorded this song, it’s so surprisingly fitting!

Like I said, I’m guilty of taking things way too seriously in softball, or on the basketball court, tennis court, foosball table, soccer field, highway, back roads, in line at Wal-Mart, ………. **list goes on and on**

OK, anyway, I’ve been that way for a long time. I know nothing that happens in a game or in Wal-Mart is worth hurting someone’s feelings over. Call it competitive, call it a bad temper, call it whatever you want but it’s something I MUST master before I leave this earth! I don’t want to arrive at Heaven’s gates in a bad mood for how God allowed me to leave earth, know what I mean?

Here’s the rest of the “softball 4,” a playlist with 70+ songs. It’s got a good mix of feel good music that will pump you up without being a catalyst to you turning into Ric Flair.

Thanks for stopping by, now get back to work!

-Out of the Wilderness

Recovery Unplugged commercial, the music and more!

While I was watching Hell’s Kitchen on the FOX app recently, an ad came on that immediately caught my attention. This is the first time I’ve heard of this organization, but it was the song that drew me in. Here is a behind the scenes of the ad and music.

The Organization. Recovery Unplugged is a place folks can go for drug and alcohol rehabilitation. They have centers nationwide. Very cool!

The Music. The ad has a super catchy song (even if it’s about a heavy topic) so before going any further, here is the full track… “Wreck Up From The Neck Up” by Richie Supa.

Richie Supa has a long list of accomplishments in the music industry and has rubbed elbows with rock legends often. He’s part of the team at Recovery Unplugged, more of his bio can be found here.

Here is a live performance of the song from Richie himself.

This song appears on Richie’s album titled “Enemy,” a compilation of songs covering Richie’s life from addiction to recovery. The album was released in 2016 and includes 11 songs, lasting just over 47 minutes. Check out the music on Spotify here.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness