"When I lived in the Gulf Oil camp in Cutoff in the early '80s," says Peter Dassey, of Kenner, "I shared a house with another engineer.
"On his days off, I tried to be considerate when getting ready at 4:30 a.m. by keeping the lights off.
"My quick breakfast would be a glass of milk and a handful of chocolate chip cookies kept in a ceramic jar on the kitchen table.
"One morning, I am sitting at the table finishing my 'breakfast of champions,' and something is tickling my beard, then my hands.
"I brushed whatever it was away, but it persisted. In the dark I couldn't tell what it was, so I opened the refrigerator for light.
"The cookie jar was crawling with tiny black ants, on the same cookies I had just finished. If it weren't for the tickling, I wouldn't have known about the extra protein I ingested."
Finding Nake
After our Saturday story about a snake lost in a house, we started receiving other tales:
Preston Holton, of New Orleans, says, "At the start of my second year at LSU in the early '70s, I was at the fraternity house when the girlfriend of a member called in a panic about a snake she and her roommate had found.
"I knew immediately it was 'Nake the Snake,' the pet boa constrictor of a graduating senior who had turned his apartment over to another member's girlfriend.
"Some months prior, Nake had disappeared from his terrarium. The girls were cleaning the apartment and removed the front grill of the fridge to vacuum the dust around the motor. Guess who they found in there keeping himself warm?
"I called the herpetologist at the Baton Rouge Zoo, who offered to give Nake a good home. A couple of us went to the apartment, managed to get Nake out, and delivered him to the zoo, where he lived happily ever after."
Debbie the Brave
Mike Boudreaux, of Bush, says, "My youngest son's prized 6-foot-long Burmese python got sick and needed a vet.
"We finally found a vet who treated snakes on the West Bank, a long trek from north of Abita Springs.
"My city-raised wife, Debbie, was the only one available to make the trip. She worried about driving with the snake in the truck as much as she did about driving alone through New Orleans.
"We put the snake in a pillowcase and tied the top in an easily-removed slip knot. We told her the snake could not wiggle out; the knot could only be released from the outside.
"We guaranteed her no one would want to steal her truck with a big snake in it. The trip went without incident, the snake healed, and we chalked up another story about Debbie’s devotion to her children."
Masterful menu
Perry Snyder, of Baton Rouge, says, "Sunday at Santa Maria Golf Course, a handful of enterprising and clever young capitalists created their own 'Masters deli.'
"Their pimento cheese sandwich was $6, compared to $1.50 in Augusta, but came with chips and lemonade. In a modern touch, their sign announced 'Venmo available.'
"But price proved to be no stumbling block to their bottom line: $360, not a bad take for an afternoon in the shade."
Special People Dept.
Marian Cupples, of Baton Rouge, celebrates her 99th birthday Wednesday, April 17.
Predator flower?
"My sweet granddaughter was about 4 when we were walking around my yard naming the many flowers," says Renee B.
"She ran to one of them and excitedly said she knew its name — 'angry panther.' (Agapanthus)."