Brown Anole Close up

 

Brown Anole

(click on the photo to enlarge)

Here is a photo of a Brown Anole that I took this afternoon. They are an invasive species, native to Cuba and the Bahamas. They outbreed our local Green Anoles (also known as Carolina Anoles). I will try to get a photo of one of our Green Anoles, but they are becoming few and far between.

This is a fairly new species here. As recently as two years ago I did not see any, and now they are the predominate lizard species in our yard.

We see skinks in the yard, too, but they occupy a different niche than the anoles.

Summer is back in Houston

The above is the chart from a local weather station (you can see it live here. It is about six blocks from our house). If you click to enlarge it, you will see that it is about 86 degrees F here in Houston as I type this.

The wonderful news is that summer is back. I hope that it is a long one. I love the summers here.

Hot, humid, and long. That is what we like about Houston summers.

Migrating Birds on Radar! (this is cool)

SciGuy: The United States has gone to the birds!

Sitting here in Limbo...

What happens to the babies who used to be in limbo? - By Michelle Tsai - Slate Magazine

Three great videos from our local Science correspondent

This is a blog from the Houston Chronicle science writer:

SciGuy: Weird science (and three very cool videos)

Wilde Quote

When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.

Oscar Wilde

Bummer for the baby

Taser used on dad leaving hospital with baby | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

On a side note: Who knew that the past tense of To Taser is "Tased"?

Daniel Bernard Roumain

We went to see Daniel Bernard Roumain tonight. It was quite the event. That lad has some hair bones! I tell you what.

This wouldn't work for me.

Storming the Gates - Diner’s Journal - Dining & Wine - New York Times Blog

Brilliant video about the future of the Web

The Yard in Bloom III

The Yard in Bloom II

The Yard in Bloom

La Cazardilla

Death in the early evening.

I got home last night to a quiet house. The animals are still being locked up in our bedroom/closet/bathroom area because of work being done in other rooms (more bookshelves mostly). So walking it there was not that usual frenzy of cats begging for dog, the dog wanting to go out and the general cacophony of being welcomed home.

I jumped upstairs to let everyone out, put some wet cat food on the counter, and poured myself a glass of cheap (but delicious!) red wine from Chile (Los Vascos Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon) and walked outside to get the mail.

That is a dramatic event with the dog. She LOVES getting the mail. It is one of our three routines (Policing the yard, Last Rounds, and Getting the Mail) that keeps her on her toes. She cries by the door and runs to the fence as I check to see if anything interesting has arrived.

As usual, nothing had. But many of our flowers are now in bloom (Bottle Brush, Roses, Oleander) so we walked to the back yard.

That is when it happened.

A squirrel had the misfortune to fall off the wall surrounding our back yard just as we passed by. Blaze, in her hyperactive state, leapt on it.

The poor squirrel. It tried and tried to get away. Let me just say that its end was swift and painless. (Well, I hope it was painless. It was certainly swift). I had to physically restrain Blaze from doing more to the poor lifeless little gray body as she was dancing through the rosemary. At least she caught the thing while I was nearby, so she didn’t have time to eat it or to roll in it.

After a proper burial, and a proper squirrel eulogy, I finally had time to finish the wine.

It is so sad to be a squirrel in the city.

Another Good Service

Bad Cookie - Real Web Chinese Fortune Cookie

This might be a useful service

Ransom Note Generator {joshuarey.com || Sherston's Progress}

Glycerin Spill in Houston

10 Tons Of Glycerin Spills Onto Roadway - Yahoo! News

This is why are roads are so nice and smooth here.