The morning sun rose gradually and the shadows crept along the ground as morning gave way to another hot summer day. Shadows of low hanging Fall Asters danced on the rocks. Dappled circles of sunshine fell on the ground. Lesser Goldfinches sang in the canopy of the Lacy Oak.
I watched a Spiny Lizard walk across the mulch, dashing a few inches and then stopping, doing a few pushups and then turning its head to inspect me sitting in the shade in a chair. It was no larger than a child’s little finger, no larger than the sticks of mulch over which it dashed. It would stare at me for long moments and then proceed further only to stop again to look back.
It came, after a while, to a blue-gray granite rock we collected in Michigan a few years ago and then to white-yellow limestone nearby. It hopped on top and looked back, sitting on the rocks in the sun for a long time, eventually turning away and moving into shade. I only moved to sip my now-cold coffee. This evidently was not alarming to the lizard who proceeded on whatever mission it was on before I had arrived.
No larger than a child’s little finger. No larger that the sticks on the ground. The lizard then disappeared into the undergrowth.