Tag: gecko

This world’s so mixed up everywhere you go – 26th May 2021

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

We’re ten rounds in to the Australia Rules Football season and as my team, Sydney Swans, is doing better this year than the last couple, I look forward to the weekends when I can catch up with the game. I can’t afford to watch the games live anymore and have to wait the following day to watch the (free) replay, meanwhile doing whatever I can to avoid seeing the result anywhere, which is not always easy.

One player in the team is Nick Blakey and he cuts an unusual figure, tall, skinny and shoulders that seem to fall away from his neck down to his elbows. His odd gait when he is running has earned him the, hopefully lighthearted, nickname of the Lizard. Once hearing this, it is impossible not to see a Jesus lizard scampering across water when he goes tearing off down field.

Nick Blakey, trying to shrug his shoulders.

So, anyway, the word Lizard has been on my mind and I will probably listen to the Jesus Lizard when I get home tonight. And, yesterday, the blue headed beauty in the main picture above blocked my exit from the car park, and luckily didn’t run away until I’d gotten out and taken a photo.

The little lizard below often greets me on the stone pillar of our gate when I get home. He’s got some cute symmetrical markings. His many, many brothers and sisters leave piles of black turds around the floor and counter edges throughout our house. And sometimes our cats deliver us some mid sized lizards that manage to escape their jaws and scitter off under the fridge or washing machine, only to appear later, high up on the screen doors frustrated that they can’t get out.

Nothing beats that time Amy, barefoot, trod on a huge dead gecko that, presumably, Tigger had left as a present in the dining room. I say presumably Tigger as this lizard was as big as Kim Chi and Cappuccino is too dumb to catch anything that size. Amy hates geckos with a passion but I think they’re beautiful – not that I want to touch it. Her scream range out across the valley and I’m surprised the police didn’t come.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to go on a long drive today and get out of home. It was a struggle.

No, I’m not too late, it’s just these stupid kids – 22nd November 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Sitting in my class annoyed at the boys who have almost all forgotten to do or give me the work they were supposed to do. Reading an interview about stoicism I’m reminded about things I can and can’t control.

How to motivate this class of lazy kids to remember that they have many things to do, and to manage my own emotional reaction when they don’t do it? Hmmm.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to be able to experience things in this world that I never expected. I’m not a great fan of some of these animals but it’s very interesting compared to the simple critters I grew up with in England. Amazing to think about where I am in the world now. 15 or 25-year-old me would never have imagined this.

We got that attitude! – 19th November 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Imagine your 10-year ‘future self’ has just been asked the previous task. He comes back and talks to you. What’d do you think he’d say?

I couldn’t quite answer this question until I asked these two questions of George and for this one he replied “Keep up the good work.” He asked me why I was struggling to answer and suggested the first thing that came into my head.

And that was to stay strong in my convictions because they often turn out for the best. Stay positive even through the tough times. Keep that confidence that I mostly feel because it has proved to work well for me. Remember also to live day by day as if it may be your last. Make it count. Try your best in everything you do. Give your sincere smile to everyone. Appreciate the time you have and make the best use of it. I’d like to think I can say the same thing as George – to keep up the good work.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that I was able to sleep early yesterday and that Amy takes care of cooking, cleaning and washing up for me. I was starting to feel a little under the weather after a day of shouting in class and after coming home and dealing with a gecko I also had time to read a couple of chapters of my book. This made me quite sleepy though and I didn’t last much longer after dinner. I am grateful that I feel better this morning so far!

Well, I’m standing here what do I see? A big nothing, threatening me – 12th-16th March 2018

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Back with the ants.  Life seems to be involving them in one way or another as each day passes.  I guess we gotta share this place.

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Another visitor we will be sharing time with.

One dinner time, as Amy was preparing some fabulous dish that I forget now as it’s not really relevant to this story, she told me to serve myself and heat up some rice from the fridge.  I grabbed the container and a plate and went to the table, plied the lid off and saw little black dots on the rice which looked like it may have been mould.  I decided to wait.  In Amy’s parent’s house, copious amounts of rice are made daily, whether it’s used or not, some kept out, some in the fridge and a fresh lot in the rice cooker.

I called out to Amy and said there was ‘black stuff’ in the rice.  She asked if it was mould, and I said maybe or maybe ant eggs.  She came to have a look and declared it was just tiny ants.  That’s ok then.  I picked around the black bits as best I could.  Amy estimates she would have probably eaten well over 10,000 ants by accident in her lifetime.

The following night Amy’s dad offered me a dish of red ant eggs with veggies to which I declined.  I also spied the tub of rice from the fridge and noticed that one of the tiny ants in there was still moving.  I bet those things can live all the way through your body.

The ants are everywhere in Amy’s parent’s house, anywhere where some form of food can be found, though not sure what’s in the bathroom that entices them, maybe flecks of toothpaste and dead skin.  I’m wondering how we can keep them out of our house.

Which leads me to the second ant story.  As I was watering the garden I’ve been pulling out weeds, loosening the ground with water so I can pull up as much of the roots as possible.  I find this strangely satisfying.  I’ve been careful to look out for snakes and other little beasties and then I came across an ant’s nest, less than ten feet from our kitchen.

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The ants were possibly disturbed by my watering but were running around in a bit of a tizzy, some of the carrying stuff that I couldn’t quite make out.  I went and told Amy about the nest and she didn’t think much of it at the time saying if we need to we can get rid of them with ‘chemicals’.

So I went back to watering and weeding, noticing that the ant action had died down mostly, with just a few scattered wanderers scurrying about.  That was when I felt an almighty sting on my finger as I was pulling up a weed.  I let go of the weed and pulled up my hand to find one of these little bastards attached to my finger.  I quickly brushed it off as the pain intensified and I wondered if I needed to go to the hospital or something serious like that.

I pissed and moaned for a bit and carried on watering and after a while, the pain subsided.  It did make me think though that if a bunch of these ants had decided to climb up inside my shirt or shoes, that would be something a little more worrying and potentially dangerous.

Later, Amy saw a picture I took of the ants and proclaimed ‘Oh those ones are nasty – we need to get rid of them’.  We’re looking for ‘chemicals’ now.

PS – the feature picture isn’t connected to this post.  It was taken when I managed to duck out from Amy’s parent’s house on my pushbike.  I enjoy just riding around the small sois (streets) nearby and getting lost before finding my way again.

12th Mar 2023 – How cautious I was at the time, still not knowing what was dangerous or not. Now, ants and lizards, in and around the house, are just normal. We never did get any chemicals.