HIBISCUS FRIEND

I had just gotten home from a week long visit with my sister. While I was back sitting on my porch I couldn’t help but wonder how my North Carolina hibiscus friend was doing.

I grabbed my phone to call my sister. “Morning! Do you miss me?” I laughed when she picked up.

“I do!” She laughed. “I’m out on my porch having some coffee.”

“How’s my little hibiscus friend?” I asked.

The first morning I was there, we were sitting on her screened in porch when she pointed to the little green lizard sitting on her hibiscus plant.

“Is that a gecko?” I asked as I got closer to the screen to see him.

Just then he puffed up his throat which turned a bright red against the neon green of his body.

“What the heck!” I laughed as I stepped back. “What are you?”

I looked over at Liz, who shrugged her shoulders. “They’re some kind of little lizard. I just know they love that plant.”

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Well, now I need to know what he is.”

After typing ‘green lizard in North Carolina’, a picture of our little friend came up on the screen. “It’s an anole.” I held up the phone to show her. “And your hibiscus plant is a five star hotel for him!”

“Really?” Liz took a sip of her coffee. “Well, I know they’re always on it.”

I looked back at my phone. “They like your hibiscus because it’s the perfect shade of green for camouflage, the flowers attract bugs for eating, and the leaves hold enough rain water for them to drink.” I looked back at the anole. “You’ve got it made here!” I said to him.

He puffed up his throat again. “Why does he keep doing that?” I began typing in my phone again. “Oh, it says it does that when he feels threatened.” I stepped back a little further. “Sorry, little guy. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Just then I felt one of Liz’s cats brush up against my leg, his tail flicking as he stared out the screen at the anole.

“So it’s you who’s scaring my new little friend!” I shooed him back into the house before sitting back down.

“The cats love watching him and all the birds at the feeder.”

I looked over at her bird feeder where several types of birds were jockeying for the best place to land.

“Well, now I want a pet anole!” I sighed.

Liz laughed. “I’m pretty sure New Jersey would be too cold for them in the winter.”

“True.” I admitted. “I guess I’ll just have to be happy with the chipmunks in my yard.”

“You know, now that you mention it, I’ve never seen a chipmunk here.” Liz said as one of the cats jumped up on her lap.

“Okay, now that’s only fair.” I laughed. “You get anoles and I get chipmunks. Both are adorable and we each get one.”

“There you go.” She laughed as she placed the cat on the ottoman in front of her and got up. “I’m going back in to make another cup of coffee. Do you want anything?” She asked.

“I’m good.” I said pointing back at the anole. “I’ll just be visiting with my new little friend until you get back.”