Lizard Lovin'

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I probably should learn to write my unhappy blog posts, and then delete them. Or not. I think that exorcising one's demons is a good way to deal with them. I would rather face the darkness head-on, rather than let if gnaw away at my insides.




Despite the fact that I have my third spring cold of the season (what's up with that?), I'm feeling much better.

I'm back to my usual tricks of laying in the dirt during my lunch hour and harassing my local lizard population. It seems to be mating season, because our resident male, who I've named Tip for his missing tail-end, is very busily demonstrating his splendid manliness. Don't all the ladies swoon for a man who can turn his neck-skin blue, whilst doing rapid push-ups? I certainly can't get enough of this sort of display.





Doesn't Tip look like he is posing for a formal portrait? I should note that it isn't my practice to name wild animals. This male lizard is named Tip, and all the females are called Tipitina.

All of them.

I tried not to name the numerous barn cats when I lived on the farmhouse and worked at the Glimmerglass Opera. I knew that if the cats got names, then I would get overly attached to them and end up sweet talking Robb into adopting three dozen semi-feral pussycats.

Of course, I wasn't very good at keeping these sorts of promises. I "somehow" learned the names that the farmers gave the cats, or assigned descriptive monikers (not "names") to certain cats. So, there was Fathead (the sweetest little cat imaginable), which Matthew named to annoy his sister. Spaz, who completely lived up to her name, and who I didn't name. The Fun Cat. Grey Momma. Eyeball Kitty. Tumor Kitty. Stumpy Rumpy. And Linguine, who now lives with us, and whose name means "little tongues."

And while we're playing with words, I have two for you.

Squirrels

...and...

Nuts.

Comments

Anonymous said…
My kids catch (and release) these guys all the time. While I LOVE your names, ours are all in a theme: Spunky, Funky, Punky and Bob (Also tail-less!)
These photos (as usual) are beautiful!

Fluffy Cow
Lisa said…
How on earth do you catch a lizard? They move like lightning.
Anonymous said…
My sister's gigantic saint bernard is named Mouse (go figure) and her cat is named Alley, since thats where she found her. My own personal cat should be called "I love Annalisa and Gary so much I just wanna claw and bite their hands into hamburger". She is very good at that, too.

But her purrs make up for it!

Annalisa
PS- My cat would love a lizard, blue belly or not!
Anonymous said…
Hey there -
I am a stranger, a friend pointed me in the direction of your site, but I am amazed by both of your stories, wishing you both the best and rooting really hard in your favor. In fact, I renamed my blog after Robb's friend's letter - Everything will be OK in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end. That was a great piece of inspiration.

Deleting the bad posts will just make it seem like the road was easy, and the next time you come to a fork or a bump you may forget that you have already been there before. A friend once told me, "At times like these, it is helpful to remember that there are times like these." I forget who said it originally...

Signed
A stranger who cares about your well being. Shocking, isn't it?
Knit Wit said…
Sorry to hear you're battling another cold. Could it be lingering effects of the hepatitis? I would imagine that could put a load on your immune system for a while.

Hope you're feeling better very soon.

Knit Wit
Anonymous said…
Hey Lisa, can't believe you're sick again but I got sick the day after "north to alaska" and finally went to the doctor on Monday...found out it was an asthma attack due to my allergies...been coughing like I smoke two packs a day! Oh well I doing better now and I can breath again with the help of an inhaler. But about the lizards...my nephew (aka...lizardhunter) catches them and rubs their tummy, which puts them in a trance like state and they just lay there...it's really something to see...from 100mph to 0 at the rub of a tummy! Once he turns them back over and sets them back on the rocks, they stand for a second and then, bam, they're off again. really neat. take care and get well. jane
Anonymous said…
Just wanted to say we name all male Western Fence Lizards "Barnabas" but we don't have a name for the females. Tipitina, though, is perfect!! Mind if we borrow it?
Senora Fuerte said…
We had a lizard move into our apartment and sleep on the dc converter for our telephone (must have been warm)-- We named him Pedro.

Later a little green anole, probably someone's escaped pet, was living on the stairs of our apartment. I named him Fruity.

And then there is the single ant that always seems to be on our bathroom sink-- while it is probably never the same ant, I always call it Ira.

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