{"id":1426,"date":"2021-09-16T07:02:23","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T12:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/gazette\/2021\/09\/16\/20210916-randomthursday\/"},"modified":"2024-09-07T18:19:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-07T23:19:55","slug":"20210916-randomthursday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/2021\/09\/16\/20210916-randomthursday\/","title":{"rendered":"Random Thursday: Word Guacamole"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a1Hola, amigos\u00a1 \u00bfQu\u00e9 pasa? Hoy es el d\u00eda nacional de guacamole<\/a>, y es la hora a celebrar. <\/i>(It’s also Mexico’s Independence Day. Coincidence? I think not.)<\/p>\n

We’ve got a lot of territory to cover, so let’s lean into it (as “they” say in H.R.).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’m sure most of you are itching to know what’s going on with the garden spider I introduced<\/a> a week or so ago. As you may recall, said spider wasn’t exactly batting a thousand when it came to closing the deal on a meal, so to speak. But I suppose it was getting by…until a couple of days ago, when I noticed that it and pretty much all evidence of its web were no longer haunting<\/span> gracing our garage window. So, unless it packed its bags and moved somewhere the property values are more reasonable, I have to assume that it discovered the hard way that there’s always someone bigger and meaner than you. [Cue Bad Bad Leroy Brown<\/a><\/i> mood music]<\/p>\n

Of course, I have no idea what that bigger someone was, but I have my suspicions.<\/p>\n

\"T-rex<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On a sorta semi pseudo-related note, as long as we’re updating some local wildlife reports, our Texas spiny lizard is still hanging out in the garage, eating bugs and spiders — wait…you don’t think? Nah…surely not…<\/i> — and pooping everywhere, and while it may be my imagination, I think it’s getting accustomed to my presence. At least it’s not diving under the treadmill the instant I come into the garage.<\/p>\n

If that’s the case, it may be because I finally wised up and set out a paper plate which I fill with water almost every morning. I’m not that wise in the ways of lizards but I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to put out some water just in case it wasn’t getting sufficiently hydrated from food sources. I did wonder, though, if my efforts were being recognized by the target of my largesse.<\/p>\n

That question was put to rest a couple of days ago when I watched the lizard creep slowly from under the treadmill and make its way to the edge of the paper plate where it proceeded to drink some that morning’s refreshment.<\/p>\n

As is my wont, I determined to capture some photographic evidence of this phenomenon, so I set up a GoPro camera aimed at the dish, and configured to take a photo every 30 seconds. Each morning, I would refill the plate with water, and turn on the camera, letting it do its thing for a couple of hours. I would then return and scroll through the images on the camera (is it obvious that I’m retired?), looking for the affirmation that I hadn’t imagined what I thought I saw. And for several days, it did appear that it had been an illusion, a cruel joke foisted on me by an uncaring Mother Nature and\/or a decaying brain.<\/p>\n

But this morning’s efforts erased all doubt. I finally caught the little guy\/gal in the act, and here’s the proof:<\/p>\n

\"Animated
\nYou can lead a lizard to water, and sometimes it will drink.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Let’s talk about music for a minute, shall we? First, here are the last ten songs that iTunes shuffled onto my phone this morning:<\/p>\n