Creatures Great and Small... mostly small

I love animals, and have tried to demonstrate to Reilly a compassion for all of God's creatures. With some exceptions... creepy-crawlies, anything slimy, scaled, slithering, and of course every insect known to man. (In fact, when I yell "BUG!" Joey knows to come running with a shoe.... a LARGE shoe if I yell "SPIDER!") Reilly will even pick up a cricket to throw it outside, but I never was able to do that. I know that people say they don't bite, but I just know that if I ever tried that, I would encounter the world's only sabre-toothed cricket. So sorry, I digress. Anyway, knowing my history I was thoroughly shocked to form an attachment to one of those creatures I usually detest.

For the course of about 2 weeks, every night I would see a rather large gecko on the outside of my kitchen window. At first, there was the typical gasping, squealing, and cringing. But after that first couple of times I saw him, I became curious... and then expectant. It's silly, but I began to look forward to seeing him every night while I fed Avery her dinner. I would even greet him with a friendly "Hey friend gecko... hope the moths are tasty tonight." He was a rather impressive specimen, for a gecko. The largest one I've ever seen, so I felt confident that he was wily enough to survive in the wild kingdom that is my backyard for quite some time.

Then one night he didn't show up. Then another night. My concern turned to worry, then quickly turned to fear and dread. A week went by and I was imagining what sort of ghastly end he must have met... what beastly creature could have swallowed him up. Joey even went outside with a flashlight to search for my long lost friend, to no avail. Sweet Joey even tried to convince me that friend gecko must have found a much better window to lie in wait for his prey. Yeah, but I knew better. He was just trying to make me feel better.

Then tonight, as I was preparing Avery's dinner, perched on the window was my tiny friend!!! At first I didn't believe my eyes, but then I focused on his creepy little feet, and KNEW it was him. I was E C S T A T I C . All was right with the world once more.


Here he is... in all his glory.