Rain, Geckos and Purring Cats!

It was a wonderful day on the Bayou! Finally..a rain! A wonderful, cooling rain. The good kind of rain..the soaking kind that is godsend for the gardens. The water came down for a good hour and since then it has been drizzling. It is far too late for the dried tomato plants but I know the other plants are rejoicing! Everything looks and smells so much better now. The rain has cleansed the dust and grime from their leaves so now they can breathe! Outside my window, the tree frogs are still calling for more and in the distance grumbling thunder says they might get their wish. I hope so! With this rain came a few minutes of high wind that blew the Cosmos to the ground and flattened the Blackeyed Susans. This is a minor problem that can easily be tended in the morning. There are already stakes cut that will support their lanky stalks until the sun pulls them straight again. No doubt there are other plants blown over but that too shall wait until morning. I have not ventured out to see how any of the other gardens faired but I am sure that regardless of any wind damage, most of the plants are happy. Plus!! In the morning I can remove the old tomato stalks and plant the Butternut Squash! The rain is good!

I did poke my head out the back door just long enough to let the cat, Ms Put, inside and noticed a tiny gecko crawling on the flower pot holding the Forsythia bush. This little gecko is a House Gecko so named for its habit of living in and around homes in warm climates like we have here. They eat a massive amount of bugs and spiders which makes them welcome here. This little gecko was acting so strange that I just had to investigate. It was flipping from side to side and the little feet were moving as if walking but it was not getting anywhere. What was going on here..I grabbed the camera and slipped out the door. Quietly I walked across the porch and down the steps..flip flop..flip flop..what was it doing?? I admit that my eyesight is getting poorer as I age, but I still could not see what it was doing. As I said..it was a tiny gecko, probably only about two inches in length and it was easy to see that it was in distress just hard to see what was the cause of this distress. I stared and stared trying to focus on the gecko and not on the drizzling rain that kept sending rivlets down my glasses. Five minutes of standing in the rain and then I saw..what is normally a gecko's prey had now become the predator! A large spider had my poor little gecko in its sight and in its web! I went into action, the spider slipped into its hole under the flower pot and the gecko now frantically flip-flopped! A larger monster (me) now loomed menacingly over it. Flip flop..flip flop..poor little guy! Obviously, it was not tangled so much that it could not move but given time the spider would have eaten my baby! A single thread of spider silk was stuck to its leg and try as it might, it could not break loose. I made like a super hero and quickly with a single stroke, broke the web and the tiny gecko sprinted to safety! Bayou Lady to the rescue! One happy gecko, one hungry spider and one rain-soaked crazy person!

Returning inside, I had nice surprise. Ms Put, who normally is rather stand-offish, graciously allowed me to hold her for a bit. As another thunderstorm grumbled outside, I was in a cozy house holding a warm, soft, purring kitty. Those few moments made me feel that all was right with the world.