Chased By A Lizard!!!

I do love the monsoons.  I call to them every day, but alas, it's doing no good.  I got a heat warning on my phone early this morning.  We're looking at over 100 degrees for the next five days.  YIKES!!  I was SO looking forward to rain!!

Rather than stay inside, Nurse Patty and I took a trip to deep in the heart of Tucson, meaning about a 45 minute drive, to friend Pat's house.  Her beautiful granddaughter Leilani was visiting, for which Nurse Patty had purchased some dress wear.

I hit the garage door opener to access the Jeep, and what should I see but a little creature sitting nearby.  I walked over to see what it was.  He ran into the corner.  Hey little guy ... you need to get back outside.  He was not the least bit obliging!!

I picked up my broom and tried to shoo him towards the door.  He instantly swelled up, lifted himself up really high on all four feet and waved his tail at me like a rattlesnake!  I kid you not, he became VERY aggressive!!  Suddenly he made a rush for my feet!

OMG!!!!  I ran backwards, almost tripping over myself!!  You little RAT!!  I swept him onto the concrete apron, which I think was a little hot from the sun.  He picked up two feet and kept his body very high off the ground.

I swept him again into the shade of the motorhome.  He stopped only long enough to flip his tail even more.   Once getting his bearings, he buried himself underneath the rocks at the edge of the concrete.  Good ... now I won't run over your tiny self.  Make note of his tail colors.

Patty and I had a great time watching Lailani sing and dance before heading even deeper into the heart of Tucson for a new Taco Shop called Toro Loco on Speedway and Pantano.  If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it.  Those were absolutely beyond-a-doubt the best tacos I've ever had in my life.  

So much so that we just sucked them down SANS pictures.  How did that happen??  Awwww so sad .... now I have to go back (possibly today) to get some more, just to show you what they looked like.  Seriously good tacos with roasted corn!!

Next stop ... Ashley Furniture to see if they had a table I was looking for ... but that's a story for another day.

Back home and stuffed to the gills, I didn't even eat dinner.  I played with the puppies on the floor until bed time.  After having that little meet and greet with the rattlesnake the last time I was here, I now never let the dogs out without thoroughly checking the back yard first.

I grabbed my huge mag light that shines clear to the railroad tracks and went to check.  Look what I found?  ANOTHER gecko ... a western banded gecko to be exact.  Okay, I admit, I would never know what it was except I belong to a group of wildlife experts where I posted the picture.

If I don't look, you can't see me.  I never did get a picture of his face.  Notice the tail?  It's been regenerated with a different pattern.  That's why they wave their tail in the air.  A roadrunner or bird will grab the tail, which will immediately fall off and the gecko lives another day.  How weird is that??  I left this little guy, about 4 inches long, to eat the bugs falling down from my BUGLESS yellow back porch light bulb.

These beauties seem to be after the same bugs.  They congregate on my back patio to eat everything they can find.  That works just fine for me!!  I'm especially not fond of doing the crazy dance like last night ... you know, when you can FEEL that bug crawling in your hair but you can't get it out???

Yeah, that was me for about fifteen minutes while I picked out pieces of him.  YUCK!!

A spectacular sunset ensued, made all the better by my newest patio lights.  They do seem to keep at least some of the bugs away from the door!!

In the meantime, I'll be doing my very best RAIN dance while eating some more tacos!!!