Maybe Grandma was superstitious or maybe she wasn't. I don't know. But she did know about many superstitions and she would quote them to us when we violated one of the conditions. For example, if I knocked over the salt shaker and spilled a little salt on the table, she would say, "Better throw a pinch of salt over your left shoulder."

"Why Grandma," I would ask.

"Because something bad will happen if you don't," she would say with a twinkle in her eye. So, maybe she did not believe it, but thought just in case, you better do it. She probably did not know that Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper reflected this superstition. Judas Iscariot was a little clumsy and knocked over the salt shaker. So, think about what happened then.

Sunday afternoon was a time when all of Grandma's children, my aunts, uncles and mom, came to visit. Most of them smoked cigarettes, so the living room was usually thick with smoke. They would sit around and discuss the important events of the day. I used to like sitting there listening to the stories, gossip, and opinions.

One time I remember everyone was talking about how dry it was and how much we needed rain. I piped up and asked grandma how to make it rain. Everyone laughed. But, Grandma told me that some people say that if you kill a snake and hang it in a tree, it would make it rain.

Nowadays, when I hear the phrase "some people say", I think of it as code for "I don't really believe this, but there is an outside chance it might be true."

Anyway, my brother and I had our mission now. We left the gathering and went hunting for snakes. We found a nest of snakes and killed seven before the rest got away. We took the seven and hung them in a wild cherry tree next to our house. My recollection is that the wind started to blow and the clouds turned black. That night we had a storm that ended the dry period. My brother and I were amazed and frightened. Because the storm seemed so fierce, we vowed to each other never to do that again.

In retrospect, maybe there was a storm forecast by the weatherman. Maybe there wasn't. But, today, I don't believe our snake adventure had anything to do with the weather back then. However, to this very day, I have kept my vow and have not killed a snake and hung it in a tree.