Perhaps with some fava beans and a nice Chianti . . .

I saw an article in the newspaper yesterday datelined SETBO VILLAGE, Cambodia. It begins, "The little boy regularly sleeps in the massive coil of a 16-foot-long, 220-pound python. He rides it. He kisses it. He even pats it down with baby powder. 'There is a special bond between them,' said Khuorn Sam Ol, father of 7-year-old Uorn Sambath. 'My son played with the snake when he was still learning to crawl. They used to sleep together in a cradle.'"

The article goes on to relate how Uorn's mother, when Uorn was 3 months old, found the baby snake coiled beneath a mat on her bed. The father took the snake down to the river, but soon discovered it was back in the house. So they decided to keep it. As it grew, officials tried to take it to a zoo, but "they relented after seeing Uorn Sambath cuddling with the reptile."

Kind of reminds me of a preacher I knew. He actually told from the pulpit one Sunday about his first trip to Florida with his small children. They stayed in a hotel with a balcony overlooking some sort of creek or canal. Standing on the balcony, they saw some alligators in the canal. So the preacher sent his children down to feed them. He said he has since learned you probably shouldn't do that.

Back to little Uorn -- he says of the snake, "I love her very much." And I'm sure she loves you too, Uorn, preferably with some fava beans and a nice Chianti!