Montag, 23. Juli 2007
A BIG SURPRISE IN MY SHORTS
We had set ourselves up under a shady ledge on the sand near the deserted, beautiful rockpools and inlets of Boat Harbour. I had got out a book and was beginning to to happily doze off, lying on my all-too-well padded tummy. Suddenly Ian came up and cried, “Oh Bill, LOOK!” Instantly I was aware that I had been joined by something that was on the back of my thigh and was intruding itself into my bright red shorts. My legs flailed wildly, (giving my foot a minor injury against a sandstone outcrop) and I swatted at my legs and buttocks like a man possessed. The friendly, fearless personage you see pictured life-sized above, scurried away, wondering what all the fuss was about. Ian had taken his picture previously, about a hundred metres down the track.I’m glad to be back on lj. Ian had been quite ill for a few weeks and then had a computer crisis, so I’d had a period of limited access and I’d been a bit down myself. I sometimes have doubts about how well I’m doing as a carer and supporter of this wonderful man. I should have greater reserves of calm and stamina, but I’m afraid that sometimes I let things get to me. A couple of night ago, Sydney’s wonderful and unique SBS channel showed Fellini’s “Amacord”. It is the only major Fellini film I had never managed to see and, Oh how worth the wait it was. I adored it! I know recent revelations about him paint a not-very-flattering portrait of the old maestro, but whatever his collaborators went through, it was worth it. What unalloyed joy his films have afforded me through the years. Once again a magical ship loomed out of the darkness as it does in so many of his films, once again he thrilled me like no other has ever managed to do. (Certainly not James Cameron, Kate, Leonardo and a squillion bucks in “Titanically Fatuous”).Hope to be talking to y’all a bit more regularly for a while.
Abonnieren
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39 Kommentare:
They're such bold and curious little creatures - when I stayed in sunnier climes I occasionally would wake up to one creeping closer to investigate. Still gives you a bit of a shock though!
I have always liked reptiles of all kinds, but to suddenly find a 25cm. long skink attempting to be excessively intimate with you without your consent was a bit of a shock. I didn't even realise it was a lizard until I saw him running away. My first thought was that it could be one of our large Huntsman Spiders or even a snake. Such excitement!
ahahahahahaha! that must have been a comical sight! although i'm sure your heart was beating very fast i would have had to run away into the bushes to giggle...i'm often thinking of the two of you. i can't imagine that you don't care for ian well. and i'm sure that you get tired.......and how about when the both of you are unwell, what then? i'm so glad to hear you are both on the mend and starting to enjoy some outings again. woohoo!!!!!i met a lizard today too, at the botanical gardens. i'll have to post his pic for you :-)
My biggest worry is that I might not in the future be well enough to care for him properly.My housekeeeping skills are a bit underwhelming even at the best of times. I'm a good cook but I run a chaotic kitchen.If I had known it was a lizard , I wouldnt have freaked out. I'm a herpetophile from way back. I think your pictures have been getting better and better, so I look foreward to seeing your lizard encounter.
LOL That would have given me a fright too. Glad you're back on LJ!
Very glad to see you back. That lizard has exceptionally good taste.
welcome back hon.... and with such a wonderful story. Hugs and know that we never think we do enough... but often it is just right.
Is that a lizard in your shorts or are you just glad to see us again.Good to have you back, Bill.
Good to be back and catching up with everyone's doings. Ive seen lots of big lizards in Sydney but never one that wanted to get so up close and personal.
I know i have a cute tush, but really!! Thanks for the lovely card which arrived today and the kind thought contained therein.
If I'd been lying on my back, he might have fallen in love. Good to be back, hope you're on the mend.
You and I both know that this wasn't the only horny old lizard who's tried to get into your pants!
Thanks. You're too kind!
critters in your pants, critters in your pantsuninvited critters in your pants. computer problems and health issues aside I am glad you are back on lj.be well.
Yay! Welcome back. I always have loved lizards, and used to catch them by the dozens as a child.Seeing as you got intimate with this one, did you see if it had a blue tongue?
And what a mischievous glint it has in its eye. Too bad Ian wasn't near enough to capture a shot of the prank! We have a small skink species indigenous to Ontario, but sadly I have never seen one. Glad to hear from you.
When people on the East Coast get up and read LJ friends' posts they get to take the best lines and use them before people who live on the West Coast even get up.I'm just saying.And what he said.
i saw a skinki think! i think!it trod in inki think! i think~and then(verse cutdue to lack of discretionon the part of the writer!)~paul
welcome back!
Yes, but you've got the lovely, warm west-coast current and they've got the evil, frigid east-coast current, so it's worth the time-lag, isn't it?
No comment!
Better a thousand lizards than two "missionaries", I say.
grandfather walking in the fogand clusters of people waiting for the train to arrive. I love that movie. Welcome back.
No, the blue-tongued skink is a much more robust, less elegant creature than this lounge-lizard. I seem to remember you had encounters with gila-monsters, or was it their southern cousins the beaded lizard. They are so spectacular and to me, a venomous lizard is the essence of exotica.
How sad that your lizards are all hermits...here they are such cheeky chappies, as the above story amply illustrates.
Oh except for getting LJ comments stolen out from under you, this is the coast to live on.. absolutely!
Uncle up the tree, the avenues carved in the snow drifts and everyone waiting for the ship to arrive. I've been on such a high for the last two days. He's one of those rare people who's work can make you fall in love with them.
Thanks honeybun, I've missed y'all, y'all, y'all !
"Hey, Rock...Now watch me pull a rabbit out of my....oh, never mind!
I think this fellow is Ctenotus robustus, the Robust Striped Skink. There are so many of them that identification is often difficult, but this fits the distribution pattern and has the characteristic protruberant eyes of the genus. We had never seen one before.
:o)~p
I believe that skink is our only lizard in Ontario.
you are most welcome ... any time... even though I know Ian is not Christmas crazy.. I appreciate the ability to send greetings.. and let you know you are both noticed and appreciated. *hugs*
Two more skinkies for you:http://www.marmot.net/danm/2002/02/12/IMG_5592m.jpg - a coppery skink seen on the rock walls at Mt Tomah Botanic Gardenshttp://www.marmot.net/danm/2002/09/06/IMG_8931m.jpg - bobtail skink from near Geraldton, WA. The last one's my favorite.
I'm much more rabidly anti-religious than Ian. He objects to Christmas on socio-economic grounds. He sees it as bullying and especially the pressure it puts on poor people (such as us). It's even worse when your relatives are affluent....you get the choice between making yourself broke or playing "poor relation". Both of us however find nothing objectionable about receiving kind greetings from a friend, so warmest greetings for the holiday season from us both.
The first one looks familiar, but I'd hesitate to identify it . But the second one is definitely one of the Bluetongues! I've had one of these in my street, wandering up and down the gutter looking for somewhere to hide. Bill took it to a rock wall in a nearby park and set it free.http://www.kingsnake.com/oz/lizards/skinks/skinks.htm - a listing of Australian skiks with some pictures which may help you identify yours.
Please continue the hilarities! Aren't lizards facinating?
Well you might think having a foot long lizard scurry up your bum is funny but I....well, I guess it was pretty funny.
or, umm, intimacy. You are a funny man, regardless.One time in Haiti I captured a variety of very large lizard, around twenty inches long. Quite a bruiser, in fact. I cannot tell you what kind it was, but they would eat each other (as if that helps). Anyway as I was showing it to a friend, someone standing next to me (who was a very animated speaker) waved his hands too close to the critter, which promptly attached himself to the offending hand. Much extrication happened during the ensuing ruckus. Eventually this became very funny. Eventually.
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