Boyhood Memories and One Little Lizard

This morning I noticed something clinging to the trunk of one of our trees. At first, I thought it was just a piece of bark, because it blended right in with the tree.  Then it moved. It was a Texas spiny lizard. I smiled because lizards remind me of Paul. I didn't grow up in Texas, but Paul did. He has often told me stories about spending his summers catching horny toads with his friends. Those little lizards were simply part of growing up in Texas.  This little fellow wasn't a horny toad. It was a Texas spiny lizard, another native Texan.  As I read more about them, I learned that fire ants don't just make life miserable for people. They also attack the eggs and newly hatched young of many native reptiles before they have a chance to escape. They even displace the native harvester ants that Texas horned lizards depend on for food. It's one of the reasons the horny toads Paul remembers have become so much harder to find in many parts of Texas. That made me stop and think. I have to be especially careful around fire ants. Every time I garden, I watch where I place my hands and feet. Until today, I had only thought about what fire ants could do to me. I never stopped to think about what they could do to this little lizard. Maybe that's one of the lessons a garden teaches us. The garden isn't just ours. This little visitor reminded me that when we care for a garden, we're not just growing beautiful plants, we are caring for an entire community that quietly calls it home. And somehow... that makes me love my garden even more.