It's a small, small, small, small world

Each morning I sit in front of a large picture window and write the stories I see passing by. This morning I hear the leaves rustling on a bush directly in front of the window, but there's no wind. I fix on a leaf and see a lizard boasting with all his might that he's the one for the cute lizard two branches below. I look closer and a few levels down I see her - hiding.


He pursues her jumping from leaf to leaf then sticks out his colorful throat fan just knowing this will seal the deal. She jumps farther away and hides.


"But you are the loveofmylife," I hear him pleading. She darts in and out of hiding places. I want to tell him, "Dude, she's not interested." But he wants her and eventually they get married and have children.


I think lizards were reincarnated dinosaurs, a sort of payback for rampaging all over the Earth scaring the hell out of the entire animal kingdom. Now the small creatures are scared of everything and get out of the way of the giant feet coming toward them.


I recognize these ancient beings as far away distant cousins who have to hunt and gather, mate, and keep the home and hearth safe and tidy in much the way we do, all the while looking for signs of calamity.....I never saw a single lizard when Hurricane Wilma came blustering through. Now the playing field is somewhat leveled and a certain trust is blooming up from the dark wetness of their earthen landscape.


To wit, I saw a baby lizard two weeks ago trapped inside my bedroom. He was an albino and clearly wanted to go home. I decided to catch him without scaring him and got a piece of paper to carry him outside. The paper wasn't working. He ended up crouching on the bathroom floor in a corner, then jumped up on the door frame - eye level with me. This is what I said to him, or it, or her, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to help you get out of here." He looked directly at me, eyeball to eyeball. 'Houston we've made contact.'


Very slowly I tried the paper again - this time not pushing it against him, but allowing him to make the big jump on his terms. Ever so lightly, he jumped onto the paper and stayed there until I opened the door and let him out. "There, have a nice life."



There are three things I'm good at. I can find anyone on the planet and I can rescue tiny creatures from inside my house. The third thing I do rather well is allow. More on that in tomorrow's window. Now it's time for breakfast.



P.S. To All my lovely creature friends living at Essex Gardens, the landlord does not use pesticide on the lawn. And the lawn is watered with well water. For the babies just born, the worms don't have any toxic stuff on them. Bon Appetit!