Requiem for a Baby Squash

First there were five yellow squash plants, then two, then the last one gave up the ghost, leaving just one tiny heir, the baby squash in the photo.  Probably it was our usual spring nemesis, the squash vine borer (see this wonderful rant by the Redneck Hippie.)

Could our extemely strange super rainy spring weather be affecting the vegetable garden?  Don’t know;  I haven’t been able to find any articles addressing this issue. Our peppers are so-so, tomatoes and cantaloupes doing fine, squash a total loss.

Meanwhile, let’s have a moment of silence for the last surviving member of the Crookneck family, headed for a casserole this evening.

Apologies to Real Lizards

Entertaining, bug-eating friend.

As long-time science fiction fans, we call noxious prickly weeds ‘triffids’ and occasionally refer to people we don’t like as ‘pod people.’  A while back I read the results of a survey purporting to show that a substantial number of people believe our nation’s political and economic affairs are currently being run by lizard people. Instead of laughing, which I would have done 20 years ago, I thought, “Hmm, that’s a compelling image.” Okay, it’s not literally true, but metaphorically it seems right on target. Something rings false about a lot of what these people do and say.  It just feels like they might be members of another species–possibly reptilian.

The other day I spotted this lizard on our fence, and remembered that real lizards are our friends.  In some places they are invited indoors because they are efficient little pest control operators. They’re also fun to watch.  I now realize I owe the lizard community an apology for using their name to describe people whose bad behavior has cost them the goodwill of the citizens.