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According to recent news, scientists working in the Amazon discovered a snake rumored to be the biggest in the world. Now that just presses a lot of my buttons. Rumor concerns me. How many other giants might exist? And, just to be clear, until Amazon can assure shipping precautions, I’m through with ordering from them.

My friend Jay Frederick likes to hike in, maybe even to, Illinois during the snake-migration season. When recently asked about snakes, he responded, “This year there's already some out! But typically, they start coming out in March, and peak numbers at Snake Road are around mid-April. Global warming has everyone's schedules mixed up!”

Global warming? Why wouldn’t the temperatures be increasing? Delivery drivers are zooming around everywhere nowadays. Think of all that friction. Tires grinding down the roads, exhaust pipes heating up and arms swatting at slithering creatures that are sliding out of Amazon packages. Just picturing the pandemonium makes me sweat.

Admittedly I’m a Jim Stafford kind of guy. “I don’t like spiders and snakes ….” Even worse, I am afraid of snakes and things that slither silently or sound like they are snake related. Once, after a mechanic told me I needed a new serpentine belt, I didn’t drive for a while. The ignition-coil position paralyzed me.

Ophidiophobia is an extreme, overwhelming fear of snakes. A pre-school experience initiated my suffering, and I’m nowhere near ready to face it like a man. You know what they say, “What doesn’t kill you will make you walk on eggshells for the rest of your life.” If that’s true, I hope the bad boas hide when they hear me coming.

As best I can recollect, my brother and I were completely focused on doing nothing and oblivious to the world around us as we sat underneath a tree. The satisfaction of a job well done, and the coolness of the shade created a backyard, comfort zone that had been violated. My sister realized this with she looked up at a dark, dangling mass. She immediately went in and tattled on the “big worm” that was hanging above us.

Apparently, snakes were not welcomed. Mom instantly appeared, escorted us inside, and then fetched the hoe from the shed. She proceeded to beat the daylights out of the intruder. Adam could have taken a lesson.

My siblings and I did learn a lesson that day. Comfort zones get challenged! Gardens of Eden and shade trees aren’t impervious to impending dangers. There are things to be feared. Some are larger than life, but not always too big for the moms and support folks who love us.

Admittedly there is no scientific support that all those delivery drivers or the rapid swinging of a hoe truly affect global warming. I am, however, not completely ignoring the right-brained probability of the Mutual-of-Omaha Effect.

Remember Wild Kingdom? Marlin Perkins would introduce creatures great and small and some of the dangers they faced. Then he would segue to an insurance commercial with something like, “Just as the mother bear protects her cubs, you can protect your family with Mutual of Omaha.”

A mother protecting her children! That is a lot of love; and, when needed, a lot of momma energy. My mom protected us. My dad would have done the same. Hopefully we all have family and neighbors who love us enough to protect us when they can, even from the big ole serpents in life. A loving heart motivates people to accomplish great things.

That’s the Mutual-of-Omaha Effect. It is the warmth created by loving and involved hearts. I don’t know about you, but in my life the temperatures around me are still rising. I’m feeling a lot of love. A little global warming like that wouldn’t hurt the world, would it?