There are times when all seems lost. We've all been there. The job of a lifetime turns sour, that one true love turns out to be a mirage, or you have really screwed up and there is no hope. You are so crushed and scared that you can't even see where went wrong.
You probably feel like this lizard. There are at least two ways you can go. Since there is no other reasonable alternative, you can bow to the inevitable and take your lumps. After all, no one can expect you to do the impossible. Or, you can defy all reason and insist on surviving long after hope is lost.
The first way absolutely guarantees that you will end up smaller and weaker, possibly dead. Choosing the second path, giving no quarter, and keeping your own counsel is no guarantee of success either. However, you will, if you survive, emerge stronger and smarter. It's a hard choice and no one can make it for you.
Giving up in the face of superior force is no shame, but if your cause is right, that choice leads to a crippling loss of integrity. Hanging in there and toughing it out until you find a way to handle your situation with honor is the best way.
Buffy carried this lizard around by his foreleg for at least a half hour. Each time she tried to pin him down with a paw, the lizard just kept pulling himself out of harm's way. Finally she tried to put the lizard down in order to get a better grip. He was gone before she could bite down.
That lizard is probably still out there...ready for his next cat.
That's a southeastern five-lined racing skink--an adult. The juveniles are characterized by bright blue tails.
Posted by: bigwig | Oct 26, 2003 at 12:22 AM
So the little blue-tailed skinks grow up to look dull and ordinary, if they survive?
I can relate to that. Old and weather beaten perhaps, but lots of stories to tell. Let's go find another cat...
Posted by: David | Oct 26, 2003 at 06:42 AM
Go Lizard! And of course, Bigwig is correct. He knows his skinks.
Posted by: fredf | Oct 26, 2003 at 03:49 PM
I believe that with cats the search is the whole of it, nad the carrying of trophies to share with the two-leggeds. After all, would You eat a lizard?
Judy
Posted by: Judy E | Oct 27, 2003 at 07:40 AM
Only if it were dipped in batter, rolled in garlic-flavored crumbs and fried til crunchy in sesame oil. Could serve them with a dip of some sorts, I guess.
I'd have to consult with Mary Beth of Mary Beth's Kitchen.
Posted by: David | Oct 27, 2003 at 08:37 AM
Buffy The Lizard Slayer (almost)??
As for lizard du jour -- eeyew -- reminds of the time I was served Whitebait Fritters in South Palmerstown, New Zealand (don't ask). I thought I could get past them with enough catsup. Nope. That would be sacrilege. Thing is, I really thought they would be crispy, but, alas, they were soggy and whole, their itty bitty eyes glossy with oil. Excuse me, where's the Pepto Bismol?
Posted by: Mary Beth | Oct 27, 2003 at 10:44 PM