Leapin' Lizards

I am not one to step on bugs or insects just because my path crosses theirs.  When I was about eight one of my neighbors was all upset because the boys were using magnifying glasses to torch their little plastic green men (the kind that came 50 or 100 to a bag at the 'dime store') and the ants that came to rescue the men in arms.  She declared that she was a Buddhist and that all life was sacred and she believed in reincarnation.  She went on to tell me all the tenets of her conceptualization of the religion as told to her.  That she didn't eat meat because it could possibly have been one of her family members.  Then she wanted to know what I was doing about it.

Okay, I was EIGHT.  The concepts were a bit over developed for me back then but I remember asking her if that meant she didn't eat plants either.  I got that she wasn't going to eat meat because it was an animal - ancestors or not -  but I was always into the plants and much more than animals.  I grew my radishes, peas, beans and tomatoes with my dad's help in the yard for as long as I could remember.  I had thought plants were pretty smart knowing which direction was up and how they died if inside the house (my mom is noted for a black thumb and she's even killed air ferns).  I, to this day, do not know who left that conversation more confused but it was the beginning of my awareness of other things outside my skin.  I don't remember the little girl's name.  I do remember she never played with any of us on the street so I kind of figured her family didn't stay in the area long (very transitional multi-cultural neighborhood not for everybody).

This morning on my way into my office building I saw an earthworm making its way across the sidewalk with a fine crust of dark dirt on its skin.  Not having a garden I didn't pick it up to repurpose it but walked around bemused.  Then I badged into my building and something fell from the sky right in front of my face. A small lizard had been on the top of the door and when I opened it the creature jumped.  I watched the reptile shake its small noggin and scurry away as only lizards can.  I flashed back to my childhood and wondered if that had been that little girl's creepy uncle or something. 

Still have a nightmare hangover.  That's what I call waking up still suspended between the dreams/nightmares and the reality of the day.  I had been watching an epic about a hurricane heading for me and trying to figure out why it was going far faster than predicted.  In my dream I saw the weather channel perfectly and the map with a large out of control map of red and danger.  It had been raining when I fell to sleep so that added into the mix.  I woke at 3 am thinking it was Saturday morning but then came to the dull conclusion I was mistaken since I couldn't recall anything about Friday.  I went back to sleep to keep on with the hurricane dream.  Is it something coming or a way I am seeing how life is speeding up?  As another birthday edges me into a new age bracket I do wonder.