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| Pink Rose |
The post title should give a clue as to what is to follow, so, consider yourself fore warned!
Tuesday was mostly cloudy and cool. Our afternoon high was in the low 60s, but, the morning felt chilly to me and I spent the morning in front of the electric space heater.
I didn't feel like going for a walk, but, eventually, I got myself off the sofa, put on a light jacket (as recommended by the weather forecast), brought the empty trash bins in, and walked for 20 minutes. The hip pain (not a sharp pain, more like an ache) made itself felt after about 15 minutes of walking and after 18 minutes, I sat down for a minute or so to rest. Then, walked for another 2 minutes. There was a time when I'd get the hip pain after 8 minutes of walking, so I was happy that I could walk for 15 minutes before the ache started.
I keep the front metal door closed when I walk, but, the inner wooden door is left open to air out the house a bit. There is a small space at the bottom, between the bottom of the metal door and the threshold; a gap of about one inch.
After I finished my walk, I had my brunch (the last yogurt dough flat bread and chicken curry) and sat down on the living room sofa to knit while I watched some videos of a show where they try to determine if various works of art that are owned by individuals are authentic pieces done by famous artists or fakes. The living room sofa is my favorite place to sit on winter/spring afternoons, because the afternoon sun streaming through the west facing window makes it the warmest spot in the house.
After some time, I heard a commotion in the family room, a sort of thud. Dancer has been having some trouble jumping up onto things, lately, as his hind legs are not strong enough. These days, he pulls himself up on his front paws. I cover the piano stool and the sofas to protect them from his fur, but, occasionally, the covers slip off when he tries to pull himself up on to the furniture. On Monday, for example, the cover on the piano stool came off and he fell down with the cover. He was fussed over and petted and given a spoon of tuna to make up for the indignity of falling off the piano stool and he was fine.
But, when I heard the noise, today, I went to check on him, thinking he might have fallen. I found him behind one of the sofas, where there was a small gap between the wall and the sofa. He often likes to lie on top of the sofa back...did he try to perch on the sofa back and slip off?
"Dancer did you fall?"
He didn't appear to have fallen; in fact, he seemed rather engrossed with something! At first, I didn't see what was fascinating him, but, then, I spotted a movement! Eek!
OK, if you are squeamish, don't read or look anymore!
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| Dancer's New Toy (A Lizard's Tail) |
A lizard must have crept in through the gap under the metal screen door while I was out walking! Dancer must have spotted it and tried to pounce on it. Obviously, it left its tail behind and ran away! The tail was twitching and squirming and Dancer was distracted enough by it to let the lizard get away!
First I took the pictures. Then, I swept up the tail and tossed it outside. Now I am left with the thought that there might be a tail-less lizard hiding somewhere inside my house! I do hope that it will find its way out, again!
However, I am not bothered by the idea that there's a lizard in the house. I grew up in a place where house lizards or geckos were common. They'd catch mosquitos and flies and were considered to be quite harmless. As a child, I would be given an ekel (the rib of the fronds of coconut palms) with a grain of cooked rice at the end of it and lifted up to feed the geckos. It was one of the ploys my parents used to get me to eat because I was a fussy eater - I'd feed the geckos and my mother would feed me! One grain of rice for the gecko, one spoon of rice for me. Most of the time, the gecko wouldn't eat the grain of rice being offered to it and then, I'd be fed another spoon of rice and told to show the gecko how to eat! LOL.
The house geckos made a distinct sound, a bit like a soft click, and the superstition was that if you were stepping out of the house to go on a journey and the gecko made its clicking noise, then, that was a bad omen and you should postpone the trip! I'm not sure how anyone went on any journeys because the geckos could be heard quite often! LOL.
I spent a relaxed evening after all that excitement over the lizard's tail. I made myself a cheeseburger for dinner, using the last frozen hamburger patty and bread ends for a bun. I had a side salad with that and some of the dump cake for dessert. Later, I called friend R to check on her and video chatted with my daughter.
On Tuesday, I was grateful for:
- The electric space heater
- Electricity
- Walking for 20 minutes
- Weekly trash collection service
- Memories of my childhood
Tuesday's joyful activity was knitting.
Plans for Wednesday include tending to the garden with M.
How was your Tuesday? What are your plans for Wednesday?
Your post reminded me of when we lived in New Orleans. We were in an older house that wasn't sealed well, and we found lizard tails in the house all of the the time. I guess they lizards would get in and then the cats would hunt them. I don't know if it's all lizards but those, along with the one Dancer found, use their detaching-tail as a defense mechanism. And now I know another characteristic of lizards - to encourage young children to eat. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, this is the second time I've had a lizard in the house and both times, Dancer drew my attention to it!
DeleteYes, lizards are good for encouraging young children to eat! So are cars! At least, the one we had when my daughter was small. Daughter was urged to hurry up and eat her dinner before the car came into the house to eat it! I think we kept that up until she was at least 5 years old! :D That car would also, occasionally, refuse to go into the garage when we'd come home and reverse back out with daughter telling it to go into the garage and then, there was always the suspense of if it would actually go in or decide to reverse back down the drive way, which it would do a couple of times before it finally went inside. By which time, we'd both be laughing. Oh, the games we used to play. :)
Dancer the hunter! What a fun story. Not sure I'd be so calm about an unknown visitor in the house!! I like your remembering tale of eating rice & your Mother's brilliant way of encouraging you to eat it. Beautiful pink rose photo.
ReplyDeleteDancer earns his keep, every now and then! LOL. I haven't seen the lizard yet, so, I'm hoping it managed to escape! I am not sure if feeding the geckos was a common ruse back then, but, when my daughter was little (and equally fussy about eating), we pretended that the car would come into the house to eat her food if she didn't eat it, first! That car was always asking for daughter's snacks, especially cookies, when we were driving somewhere and daughter would pretend to feed the car. :D
DeleteLuckily the tailless lizard will not be without a tail but about 2 months when it will be regrown and ready for another encounter with Dancer.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've seen several lizards in the garden with partially regrown tails! Not sure if it would want to have another encounter with Dancer, though! :D
DeleteI've had an unexpected heavy cold so spent much time sewing in front of the TV and relaxing. A popular police drama on British TV at the minute (death in paradise) is set on a Caribbean island, and the detective had a pet lizard 🦎called Henry🦎. I'm not sure I could cope with one in the house 🦎
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you're having a cold, Angela; hope you recover from it quickly. They show that drama series here, too, on our public television channel. I haven't watched the show, though. I'm generally OK with small critters in the house, as long as they are not mice (I've had a couple of them come in, in the past, before we had any cats, and I had to set traps for them).
DeleteYou put me to shame, I didn't go for a walk yesterday, I didn't like the cold and the wind so I did a Dancer and kept warm! The program about possible fake art reminded me of a Museum of Fake Art in Vienna. It was really interesting. Apparently there was even an artist who designed his work to self destruct after a length of time!
ReplyDeleteAs for the lizard tail, Dancer must have thought it was the perfect toy. I hope the owner managed to get outside rather than waiting to surprise you.
We had a wee sprinkle of snow overnight and it was not far above freezing when we got up. It is still only about 41°F now. We have a lot of pretty birds around, goldfinches and purple finches, all busy at the feeder or on the ground. I've washed and trimmed my hair, changed the bed and washed the sheets, even made some soup for lunch. The mailbox awaits, and I plan to bundle up and actually go out this time!
Staying indoors and keeping warm when it is cold outside sounds perfectly reasonable to me, Bushlady.
DeleteDancer was very intrigued by the lizard's tail! He wasn't trying to eat it, but, I thought it was best to get it out of the house!
You've another cold day, today, but, you've been busy! Hope you have a pleasant walk to the mailbox and back. :)
This reminds me of the house lizards at my uncle's place in India. I saw one and thought it was painted on the wall, but the following night it wasn't there! Later I saw another one in another room, and finally caught one scurrying around. My aunt thought it was hilarious that I'd assumed they were decorative! Occasionally I saw them in Japan too, but on external walls and doors, not inside. Now I have a ceramic lizard on my wall, which Dad got for me after we saw them at an art and craft show.
ReplyDeleteHi Lady Ella. Yes, you would have seen house lizards in India, too; we just took it for granted that there would be a few lizards around the house! I remember seeing your ceramic lizard in one or two of your pictures.
DeleteI had a feeling I had photographed that lizard, perhaps for the "L" challenge, but I couldn't remember for sure. (I also have a feeling I have written pretty much that entire comment somewhere before. Sorry if so.)
DeleteYes, you had photographed your lizard for the L challenge (I checked! :D ) We might have discussed lizards in a previous post when I posted photos of lizards. It's fine if we discuss them again, in another post; no need to apologize. :)
DeleteGorgeous rose! I wouldn't mind a lizard getting in! When I was very young we lived in Trinidad, and often lizards came inside. Im sure Dancer found its tail lots of fun! .
ReplyDeleteThank you, Celie. I keep photographing the roses because they look so pretty, this year!
DeleteTrinidad would have been a lovely place in which to live, I'm sure.
Dancer was very intrigued by the tail!
Sorry to hear that your hip has been aching. I hope it's not osteoarthritis. It sounds like the liizard got away. My brothers and I used to try to catch them at our ranch. When we left, none of the lizards up there had tails.
ReplyDeleteYes, Stephenie, I do have some osteoarthritis and bone spurs in my spine. I was told to take some OTC pain meds if needed, but, I try not to take anything.
DeleteI'm hoping the lizard managed to escape! I know it'll regrow its tail, which is a wonderful thing when you think about it. Too funny about all the tailless lizards up at your ranch after your brothers and you visited! :D
I hope the lizard scoots out the way it came in. I had to read up about lizards and losing their tail is a defence from predators but it should regrow. I'm sure it brightened Dancer's day having a new toy to play with.
ReplyDeleteI, too, hope it does, Eileen. Yes, losing their tail is a defense mechanism - they leave their tails to distract the predators and escape with their lives. I'm afraid I removed the tail as soon as I discovered it (after I took the pictures, of course). Dancer looked for it, later, and seemed so puzzled! Poor kitty!
DeleteOh Dancer, just doing what cats do. I like house lizards and geckos too. Have you seen the house lizard in that TV series, I think it is called Death in Paradise? It seems to be in every episode.
ReplyDeleteYes, Dancer was showing that he was a mighty hunter like all cats! I haven't watched that TV series, but, you are the second person to mention the pet lizard in it; might have to make it a point to watch at least one episode! :)
DeleteOh my! No lizards here, but I was treated to a mouse when I returned home from work yesterday :)
ReplyDeleteEek! A mouse! I would not like to come home to a mouse! Who was the hunter? Mog or Boo?
DeleteWhat a funny Dancer "tale" ;)
ReplyDeleteI would definitely not be happy about a lurking lizard tailless or otherwise. And Jules found a mouse. Too much wildlife for my taste. I will stick with admonishing the cute baby bunnies frolicking in my garden. lol
It's interesting you've lengthened the time before your hip starts to ache. That sounds like you are strengthening the area but what do I know haha
After your rest when you start back up, does it start to hurt again?
Pretty rose!
Dancer keeps life interesting around here. :)
DeleteAw, baby bunnies! I hope they don't eat too many of your plants, though!
Yes; I'm building up stamina with my walking! I am hoping to be able to build back up to where I can walk for 30 minutes or more. After a rest, I am good to go for another 10 minutes or so. I might have to do two 15 minutes sessions to get my 30 minutes, but, that's OK, too.
Gorguss rose, I am very partial to that pink. And ewww on the lizard tail!! Harmless or not, I am not a fan of creepy crawlies.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susanne; it's one of my favorite roses. Yes, I agree with you about the lizard tail! I never found the lizard, so, I hope it escaped even if it had to leave its tail behind!
Delete