Some more Folklore for y'all

There isn't much to say in this post; just  a few minor points of interest.

1. I got to save a snake! It had gotten itself tangled up in a plastic net in Mogi-san's yard, and both her and her husband hate snakes. She said they were both secretly hoping it would die before they had to deal with it, but they called me because they know I like snakes. When I got there we thought it had died; it wasn't moving. I kept poking it, though--looks like childish persistence pays off once in a while, because I discovered it wasn't dead after all. I held it while Mr. Mogi cut away at the netting. The snake was obviously worn out but still really strong; it wrapped itself all the way around my ankle and squeezed, startling me into almost dropping the whole bundle with its head still trapped inside. The process was long and difficult because most of the plastic was wrapped tightly around the snake, so we had to pull the plastic away with our fingernails before we could safely cut it. Eventually we freed it, and it was so cool! It was light gray/green, and as docile as could be. I carried it over to a field with two hands--it must have been at least 4 feet long--and released it there. Now Mogi-san tells the story at the schools and someone called me "hebi onna," the "snake woman" (which happens to be one of those charming bakemono I mentioned before).

2. I learned about another Japanese tradition today. When they eat "hatsumono," the first fruits of the growing season, they are supposed to eat while facing the east and laugh. Today one of the teachers gave me some beautiful cherries (Yamagata Prefecture is famous for them) so Mogi-san and I laughed towards the east, right there in the teachers' room. Apparently it's a way of thanking the gods. Pretty cool deities, in my opinion, if they take laughter for thanks.