Snake

When I was 21 and working at the MOS in Boston as a curatorial assistant in the Live Animal Center a group of us decided to go to Rhode Island to get tattoos. This was before tattooing was legal in MA. It was my first of what has become many tattoos and I had decided that I wanted a snake tattoo. Not just any snake, though, a coiled snake that I had seen somewhere. I couldn't remember where so I tried to draw it from memory, but I couldn't get it quite right.

The tattoo trip was fast approaching and I was having no luck. I had to pick something up from our curator's desk, probably a pay check or a new key or something, and sitting on the top of his desk where it had been for lord only knows how long was Ditmars "Reptiles of North America" with that green cover and gold embossed coiled snake.

Lucy Hale