I am pleased to say that today, I encountered the Death Rock and emerged victorious. Copperhead 0, Dolley 1: Black Widow Spider 0, Dolley 1. Coincidentally, the little wisp of a nothing Russian Sage is not a new plant. It has been languishing in my garden for 10 years! I finally took pity on it and moved it, but it was a dangerous undertaking.
I got to thinking how our precious Republic is like that Russian Sage, it has been languishing in the shadows, neglected and unattended by us. When we determine to replant it in friendlier territory there will be plenty of copperheads and black widow spiders waiting for us to turn their rocks over. We must be prepared to do exactly what I did.
Upon discovering the copperhead, I paused for a moment while I determined what was in front of me and then took the giant shovel I had in my hands and sliced it to smithereens. I replanted the little Russian Sage, put the mulch back in place and returned the rock, only to discover that a Black Widow Spider had also been hiding under that rock and was quietly waiting for things to go back to "normal" before she returned. She was met, after quite a loud expletive on my part, with the flat end of the shovel.
So fellow patriots, we need to prepare ourselves for the copperheads and the black widows when we start turning over some of these big ole rocks.
Ciao for now,
Dolley