Never get out of the Boat

     The morning mist was so cold and thick that I felt like I was in a dream.  I knew I was in a dream, or a nightmare.  I had to be... 
   Through the clouds I found myself standing on a grassy field in a row of ten men, all of us dressed in green US Army camouflage fatigues.  I was dead silent, with a sinking feeling in my stomach like, “Dammit, how did I end up here again?  This can’t be happening.”
   A second later, a very strong, very imposing man in his thirties, with a square jaw and eyes as cold and lifeless as charcoal, dressed in green Army camouflage fatigues as well as a round Campaign Hat, shouted in my face “You think you’re special, do you Private Schrader?!”  It was Staff Sergeant Hill, my Army Drill Sergeant.  A hard but moral man who has haunted my dreams on more than a few occasions since he disappeared from my life.  Immediately I responded “No, Drill Sergeant!”  Then he huffed, pointed a thick finger in my chest and said “If you do, you sure as hell found yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time.”  We locked eyes, then a sensual female voice giggled and whispered softly in my ear... 
   “Aren’t we a pair.  Time to wake up.”
   My eyes popped open.  I quickly wiped the sleep from them.  Breathing heavy, I found myself in bed.  I touched the sheets and the pillows, just to make sure.  The room I was in was quite spacious.  I was in the legendary Grand Suite at the Santa Maria Inn in Santa Maria, CA.  I could see the rain hitting the window pane as soon as I switched on the light.
   The suite I was staying in was where Norma Jean Mortenson – better known to the world as Marilyn Monroe – stayed for a summer during the Great Depression with Doc Goddard and his wife, Grace.  The room was full of old classic Hollywood movie posters and more than a few ghosts.  
Golden-era Hollywood stars like Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable and Gregory Peck stayed in this very room.  
But they still don’t quite shine like Marilyn.  She has to be among the most beautiful women ever to walk planet earth.
I grabbed a wine glass, a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1988 off a magnificently crafted 19th century end-table and took a seat on a King Charles sofa, quietly watching the rain.  I took a sip, sighed, and said “How did I get here?”
     Then I paused and thought, stop Alex.  You are here because you jumped off the boat a long time ago... so long ago, even the world has forgotten.  Marilyn jumped off the boat.  She split from the entire program.  She went so far in such a short period of time her whole life is steeped in myth, legend, and Hollywood lore.  The depth of her legend rivals that of Helen of Troy or Princess Lady Diana.  When I say... “jumped off the boat”, I simply mean taking a different path in life, a path driven by passion, intellectual curiosity, self-reliance, or the desire to build or make things.  These things can be incredibly rewarding when successful, but they can also take individuals down harrowing, treacherous roads where lessons are learned in the hardest of ways.
While I was waiting for Doctor Hwang to give me an itinerary for a return turn trip to Cambodia, business had taken me to Palm Desert, California.  A beautiful oasis at the edge of Southern California.  With me was a manuscript regarding Gunung Padang, a mysterious pyramid in West Java, Indonesia, that I plan on visiting.
     My suite was beyond top-shelf.  It sat at the very edge of a golf course with scenic views of a large, man-made pond.  It had high ceilings, wood floors, a kitchen, and a bar.  It was a warm night, so I figured I would drink mango juice and sit in the jacuzzi and look up at the stars.  I felt truly blessed as I put on my swim trunks and sandals and walked across the wooden floor but was started to find...
     A SNAKE... 
     Long and skinny...
     Black and white, with large, dark almond-colored eyes and a forked tongue.  I knew it was a life-changing moment the second I saw him.  
In many religions, a snake that crosses your path or enters your room is seen as an omen of transformation; meaning your life and relationships are going to change dramatically.
     I screamed and jumped!  My eyes darted across the kitchen area for a weapon, a hammer, or a grabbing device of some kind.  He was just frozen, coiled up, looking at me with those big eyes.  That’s when it hit me...
     He’s just a kid.
     A baby.  A baby king snake who found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I don’t blame him.  All those lights, all that food, all those colors.  I would have done the same, and I did.  Long ago.  Long before many of you were ever born.
     Most of my friends and associates would have chopped him up into little pieces, but my fatherly instincts took over and I did not want to see this little one fall through the cracks or suffer any misfortune.  Once these things start happening, they tend to be recurring.  I grabbed a bowl and some tongs.  If he was an adult he would have coiled up to strike, but all he did was flick his tongue and look up at me with those docile eyes.
     I bent down, picked him up, put him in the bowl and said “Don’t worry buddy, I’m not gonna hurt ya.”  I rushed outside, tilted the bowl to the ground and he slid away into the cool desert night.  I thought of him for a second and hoped that if he didn’t find his family, he would soon find a mate.  I turned to see the door of my hotel suite close behind me, and there I stood, wearing only swim trunks, locked out of my hotel suite in the middle of the night.
     Does curiosity kill that cat...? 
     Well, that’s for each of us to decide.  As Dr. Hwang would say, “Be careful.”