I came home from work today to find a lizard hanging out in my hall closet. A cute little lizard with a very long tail. As I tried to herd it outside without making it drop it’s tail, the cat wandered over to investigate. This cat has ignored every spider he’s seen since he’s been here – and there have been many – with one half-hearted and completely ineffective exception. So, I wasn’t really worried. Quincy was curious because it moved, but it wasn’t moving fast enough to really kick his hunter instinct in. So, he just pawed at it a little to keep it moving. The lizard was keeping it’s tail, so I jogged the 10 steps into the kitchen to grab a clear plastic container to trap it in.

I should have taken the cat with me. When I returned, he was staring at the now frozen lizard curiously, completely ignoring the convulsing piece of tail that lay next to it. He pawed at the lizard a few more times to make it run around again before I managed to get him out of the way long enough to drop the container over it. Luckily, the little guy only dropped the back half of the tail rather than the whole thing but, let me tell you sister, watching a bodiless limb flail around for a few minutes is some creepy stuff. I totally get that it’s intended to serve as a distraction while the rest of the lizard gets away (which in this case didn’t work, as the cat completely ignored it and stayed focused on the main body)… but ew.

The lizard went outside and the cat went back to skulking about the kitchen. Of course, the tomboy in me had to play with the tail a little before throwing it out. It was still cool in a scientific poke-it-with-a-finger way. Reconciling the visual with the feel of it in my hand was really strange.

Gene Mutation Makes Tot Super Strong

Wow.

It was bound to happen sooner or later, but I certainly never expected it to happen in my lifetime. Is it weird that I think this is just about the coolest thing, ever? Judging by the relatively normal growth of his siblings, he’ll probably end up just fine as an adult (if the world leaves him alone). I just hope he doesn’t get all bitter and go the villain route. That would be bad. Very bad.

There’s a new web site on the horizon for a friend of mine, MTE Engineering. He’s a welder who is lucky enough to be able to combine that with his lifetime hobby of racing. I’m not sure what we’ll find in the gallery yet, but if you’re into racing at all, keep an eye out for it; it’s bound to be good. If I’m not mistaken, that’s his car on the home page. Isn’t it gorgeous?

In other news, our fireplace got some long overdue attention this weekend.