Along the Coalpits Wash, I notice a Great Basin Collared Lizard, sitting on a rock in the sun. I had looked for this lizard many times in the past, and never seen one. In real life, they are truly stunning – with scales in orange and teal.
Soon after seeing this collared lizard, I realize that it is not the only one. I am literally surrounded by them. I just hadn’t seen one before. But once you know how they camouflage themselves, they start to show up on every log and rock. It’s like playing the beetle bug game. Once you start, they’re everywhere.
For the past three months, since I visited Canyonlands National Park, I’ve been telling my son stories from the world I imagined above the Green River. And now, I find a bright male collared lizard, with what appears to be a wry smile on his face.
I invented a world of mice and birds and islands to tell to my son. Where does a lizard fit in? Maybe he sails into the harbor of Mousetopia Island. Maybe he’s on vacation? What should I call him? I am not sure. That will come to me later. For now, I know that I have a new character.
Like lots of other folks out there, I get my inspiration and ideas from the road. There are lots of ways that the American dad is pictured raising his boy. Watching sports is one of them. I’ve never watched a sport on TV. Maybe teaching about the world through sports on TV is a better way to raise a boy. But I’ll wager that perhaps doing things your own way is better than the only way. I need to use my own palette, and that palette is travel. And in that way, it is unfathomable to me that anybody should ask why I step out the door.
I don’t have a name for the lizard yet. But I know he is a good lizard. A good lizard, and he comes from far away.
Great Basin Collared Lizard
facebook
twitter