A House Guest

Dear Addie,

This past weekend we had a very special house guest. A guest a much younger version of myself would've never entertained the thought of, but let me back up a bit to explain why - stick with me here.

It's hard to believe there was a time when I called my dear friend Krista in a complete panic, just after midnight, asking her to come and deal with what I would later learn was a palmetto bug. She arrived with a rolled-up magazine and swiftly took two solid hits to take care of it. Side note: She said she could've got him on the first try if she hadn't had a few glasses of wine already. Still in shock from what had just happened, she turned to us with a smile and said, "Welcome to the South." Ah yes, a place where it doesn't usually get cold enough, or when it does, it’s not for long enough to kill anything—just long enough for things to take a nap and keep growing. Fast forward to today, and I probably would have just tried to capture it and throw it outside to let it take its chances with the turkey vultures, hawks, owls, and crows. Oh, how our world has changed since that night.

Living in the woods, we are familiar with creatures of all kinds and always strive to coexist with them. Who could forget sweet "Mushu," the anole we rehabilitated after an Amazon truck accidentally ran him over, leaving him with a missing tail and dragging back legs? After just a few months of living in a luxurious aquarium setting and being well-fed, possibly even better than he had ever experienced, he regained his health, grew his tail back, and was released back into nature on a warm Christmas Day.

Ok, I may have gone off track a bit, where was I...

Oh yes, our house guest - we brought home your class pet "Scout" the Bearded Dragon or "Eeeeeee-guana" as you lovingly called him. Having very minimal idea or just the pure basics rather of what to do with him, I knew our resident animal lover and educator big sister Clara was coming home for the weekend so we were in good hands. With his giant habitat in the back of my car, Scout in his carry buckled up in the front seat - we were doing this and oh my goodness, I'm so glad we did!

We learned so much about Scout and how unbelievably social he was. He loved to be held and hand fed - especially crikets! Not gonna lie, I was more weirded out by the crickets, but I digress. He followed us back and forth in his tank when we'd walk by, never fussed over eating, had a few stare downs with the cats who as a side note thought they'd make great babysitters for him (Fat chance kitties) and loved when we'd snuggle him - yes I held him multiple times a day. You were curious but hesitant until the last day when you sat down to finally pet him. I asked you what it felt like and you said, with great enthusasium, "A rock!" Not sure that's how I'd describe him but you didn't say soft or fluffy so you weren't wrong. Perhaps he was kinda like a lava rock with his rough skin... I see it. Good job Ad.

This weekend we got to look after your class pet and it was so much fun. If I had to guess...He'll be back ;)

Love,

Mom