Western Skink

Now that the rain has finally left us, the thermometer has gone from 54°F to 94°F. The change has happened so quickly that nobody is quite ready for it. Our shorts are buried in the bottom of the drawer and sandals lost in the back of the closet.

I went to class this morning and in response to a request from the teacher (for requests) somebody said they felt she had been hunkered down for so long that she needed to stretch, so we stretched. Stretching without straightening my stitched up knee was a bit of a challenge...but aside from looking like something out of Frankenstein, it seems to be healing well. The dermatology office called this afternoon to say that they had ‘successfully excised the carcinoma on your right thigh. Problem is...it’s my left knee....

As we drank our after class coffee, my friend Nancy and I agreed that the man across from us telling his not very interesting life story in a mind numbingly dull monotone was driving us crazy.. We finally polished off our coffee quickly and left as he diverted from his work history in the tech industry to his many unsuccessful relationships! I never heard the fellow he was talking to utter a word. Perhaps he was some sort of professional, but even a non-professional listener could have told the poor chap what his problem was. He was BORING! And he NEVER STOPPED.

There were two empty tables outside and I told Nancy we could have been spared the life story if we had just sat outside, something I much prefer anyway. She reminded me that we had just gotten too used to huddling inside to start thinking about going outside.

Now it is late afternoon and I am once again attempting to sit outside on the porch but it’s TOO hot. And the mosquitoes as well as other bugs are taking over. I am, however, holding my ground because I saw this skink ....on our outdoor rug and couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive. He didn’t move when I moved in with my phone for a picture so I waited and admired his florescent blue tail. He eventually moved into a much more photogenic sinuous shape but it was too late as he disappeared in an instant.