Somewheresville

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Like many posts in this blog, this was for my mother who had a great curiosity and fascination for all things strange and amusing, and was the person with whom I shared the fairly inconsequential sort of things we both liked. She would have really enjoyed watching the basilisks, and even enjoyed the pictures, and I’ll miss finding things that I know she would like. Jesus Christ lizards, otherwise known as Basilisks, are funny. They are designed to do extraordinary things, running across the surface of water hovercraft style by trapping pockets of air beneath their back feet, (isn’t nature wonderful), but they are just funny. It’s helped by the fact they look like old Cockney geezers down at the Dog and Duck. There’s a huge, gnarly one that hangs out by the hotel pool in the mornings, as do I sometimes – working, of course. I call him Baby. Depending on his mood he either scarpers resentfully when I arrive, or stays put, but keeps me in his line of sight. This morning, while I went off to the kitchen in search of watermelon juice, one of his smaller friends took my chair. Seeing me return, it took him five minutes of deep deliberation to decide what to do, eventually settling on panic. He removed himself – without dignity – to the roof of the rancho and, whenever I looked up, he was looking down at me, over the curtain rail.