Thursday Things: Lizards, Rogue Vegetables and an Esteemed German

The week in review (minus the gallons of orange juice, cough drops, long naps, and early bedtimes):

1. Our garden went rogue while I was on vacation.

Maybe I should have moved "buying metal cages for the cageless half of our tomatoes" to the top of my to-do list. They probably would have been a good investment.

This is what a tomato plant is supposed to look like:

This is a helicopter view of what tomato plants are NOT supposed to look like:

This is a ground view of the unruly little rascals. As you can see, they have become a nice ground cover:

This concludes my tomato tour.

2. I love my neighbors. They are like family to me. Let me tell you about them. J and M live in a sprawling ranch house on two acres of property with their youngest daughter, K. They are hospitable, generous, considerate and fun. I live in a small studio attached to their house.

L and L are a married couple my age that live in the guest house across the yard. They are hilarious, generous, adventurous and fun.

Our little community is like a compound. A lush, verdant compound with fruit trees and a community garden full of basil, onions, tomatoes, peppers, mind, and strawberries.

I love love love living here.

3. Allow me to give you a tour of our compound that feels like a retreat center.

This is the view from my front window:

This is my back patio where I keep the flowers that are supposedly prolonging my life:

This is the entrance to our communal garden. It looks like a Secret Garden, doesn't it?

This is the plot that houses most of our fruit trees:

This is the pool where I like to develop aqua aerobic routines, preferably when nobody is around:

The back and side yards are too big for my little Canon Powershot to capture, so you'll just have to come visit!

3. I broke a dish this week. I was carefully and methodically washing it, and then it just flew out of my hands Mary Poppins style, except it didn't land neatly on the shelf where it belongs—it crashed to the floor in irreparable pieces. I have broken three dishes in three months. At this rate I will be out of dishes in just 3.33 years. Is the number three lucky?

4. I'm reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy right now. Feast your soul on this little nugget:

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil:
God will not hold us innocent.
Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
— Bonhoeffer

I've been thinking about how this translates into my life in the midst of this baby genocide our nation has embraced. Any thoughts?

5. I had a staring contest with a lizard today while soaking up some rays on my back patio. He won, of course. This is because lizards don't have eyelids. At least I don't think they do.

Lizard-watching is one of my new pastimes. I love it. This is just one way that mono can change a person.

I watch them race across the patio, scurry up walls, and do push-ups. Yes, they do push-ups. I'm not sure if this helps them stay cool, or attract a mate. I'm going with the latter, because these little guys are preoccupied with finding a mate.

Here's how I know this interesting nature fact: almost weekly I catch lizard couples participating in elaborate mate-attracting routines that resemble the Pasa Doble. I'm not sure if the male or the female is the matador (how can you tell a lizard's gender?); all I know is these routines are tense and intimidating, and they make me very jumpy.

6. I just dropped a gigantic battery on my nose and am now trying to figure out which icy food I can pull from my freezer to numb my throbbing bump. Ouch.

At least it wasn't a dish.

Happy Thursday Friends!