Lizards: waving, drowning, smiling, frowning

August 10, 2011

A few weeks ago two lizards appeared in our yard.  They seemed to be fast friends, even though one looked like Rango and the other like the typical lizards one finds in the gardens of LA.  The standard lizard did his customary push-ups while the escaped day of the iguana or rogue karmic chameleon with upward curled tail demonstrated her distinctive walk:  a funky rolling gait in which she seemed to ride an invisible wave.  Regular lizard, in contrast, snaked side-to-side as he cut dusty trails or climbed the walls.

Sadly, a couple of weeks ago, I found the fish-out-of-water lizard dead in the pool, imitating William Holden at the beginning of Sunset Boulevard.  Unlike Gloria Swanson, however, I didn’t call the mortuary, but rather buried it, with spirit but without much ceremony in the sacred ground where also rest three guinea pigs, a goldfish and assorted birds and mammals who met their demise within the confines of the land I tend, but do not pretend to “own” (no matter how banks, mortgages, property taxes and departments of water, power and trash might weigh, cash or trash-in on the matter).

Then, last week, I had left the pool to look for tools to work on a fix-it job that had been vexing and eluding me for many weeks.  Suddenly the remaining lizard was in the pool, floundering in front of Andy.  She called out to me—the go-to person in our family team for tasks such as spider, beetle and lizard rescue, but I was out of earshot in the garage, the clanging of wrenches and drill bits obscuring the human cry for help.

And then the lizard started to go down, sinking toward the cool depths of the deep end.  With no one else to do it, Andy dove down and handled the lizard, transcending from visual appreciation to tactile assistance, scooping the stunned animal out of the water and placing him on the warm concrete.

I emerged from the garage with my socket wrenches to find the stunned lizard frozen in place on a patch of wet.  We all watched it concerned, its eyes unblinking wide as we humans gazed upon it in a thin puddle of fast-warming water.

“I rescued it,” said Andy, “I hope it’s okay…”  It had lovely markings and from head to slivered tail-tip might have been a little longer than two cupped hands.  I knelt down and lightly grazed its head with my finger.  After a moment it seemed to regain its bearings and, back in character, serpentined on windmilling legs into the tangle of trailing rosemary and dark leafy bushes—a wave pattern of endless Ss, perhaps yeses, hanging in our minds like a slowly vanishing vapor trail.

Later, on the way to dinner, Andy said she was glad to have saved the lizard.  She said it was a good sign, and the boys asked, “A good sign of what?”  And she replied, “I don’t know, just a good sign.”

Namaste, BD

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

rebecca @ altared spaces August 10, 2011 at 6:30 am

a good sign of reaching for life beyond one’s comfort zone. I don’t know yet…but that’s how it strikes me and that’s how the story inspires me to act today. Thanks to Andy and thanks for making your family part of this page.

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Pamela August 10, 2011 at 1:32 pm

This is a great sign for all of us lizards that there is hope. What a beautiful story and a great reminder that we all need rescuing every now and then and that compassion is so important.

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BigLittleWolf August 10, 2011 at 10:24 pm

I don’t know from lizards. (I don’t know from fish and beetles either.) But there’s something poetic and heroic in this tale – Andy diving in to save this creature.

To me, the good sign is in our immediate response – or nearly – to save life. An animal’s life, a person’s life.

I find that reassuring. Reassuring of what? I don’t know. Just reassuring.

And yes, poetic.

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TheKitchenWitch August 11, 2011 at 6:43 am

Aww, sweet lizard love! I’m glad she saved the little dude, too.

I have to admit that cackled wickedly at the William Holden analogy.

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Being Rudri August 11, 2011 at 8:34 am

it’s the feelings and emotions we can’t identify that give us the most to ponder about. I’d like to think that the act of saving that lizard is goodwill, something that trickles and seeps into your family’s fibers with ripples that are realized later.

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Kathy August 13, 2011 at 10:37 am

This entry is beautifully and lovingly written!

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