Things That Go Bump in the Night

At my parent's summer home, they've got quite a varitable orchard going on in their backyard. They have several fruit trees growing and the fruit has started to bloom. Since I'm down here using it for peace and quiet to study, I get to see this fruit grow.

One of my friends who lives outside of St. Petersburg came down to visit. She was taking a break from studying (she is taking the Step 1 exam in a couple weeks--wish her luck). When I told her of the various fruits that were growing and that I was more of a Doritoes and KFC hunter/gatherer, she asked if she could gather this fruit. We went to the backyard and started picking guavas for her to take home. I reached my hand into the tree to get a pretty good sized guava when Maria screamed. I looked to see what she was screaming at and then screamed like a woman myself. On the guava I had just picked was the Geiko lizard. It's big bulging eyes staring at me. I dropped the fruit, did a "get that thing off me" dance in the middle of my yard--much to the amusement of my neighbors and Maria.

I don't know where these lizards come from, but they seem to be all over the place. They are sometimes seen on the side of the house and around the pool. They gross me out with their bulging eyes and skinny bodies. Eeek!! Spiders, I'm not afriad of, but those things will make jump onto to a chair faster than a step aerobics instructor can (by the way, is step aerobics still a fad).