I saw the first lizard in our driveway about a month ago while I was outside working on my van. It was a hot day, well over 100 degrees, and it wasn’t until I removed my glasses to wipe the stinging sweat from my eyes that I saw something on the ground move. Sitting just a few feet away from me in front of my workshop’s garage door was a small lizard. With my glasses back on I saw that the lizard was looking back at me. After watching the lizard for a few minutes and taking a few photos of him with my phone, I went back to working on the van. After watching me work for a few minutes he scurried away, off to do whatever it is lizards do.

A few days later while stepping onto the driveway I watched a lizard zip out from underneath my car and run toward the lawn. This lizard was much smaller — a baby, I presume. So now we don’t have a lizard. We have lizards. That evening when I told Susan I had found a second lizard, she told me she had found the first one… in the bottom of the swimming pool.

That is when I decided to build a home for lizards.

Google informed me that lizards like shelter and shade and water and not to bother trying to feed them because your yard is like the Golden Corral buffet for lizards. The first thing I did was put a small bowl of water next to the workshop where I had last seen the lizards. I then went to Facebook to ask if anyone had any free rocks or bricks, because I don’t like paying for rocks. I really don’t like paying for things that aren’t man made. Like, I get paying for a dozen roses — someone grew them, trimmed them, shoved some baby’s breath down in there… whatever. I hated paying for the dirt they brought in to build my workshop, although I justified the cost (literally thousands of dollars) by convincing myself I was paying for labor and machine rental and not the actual dirt. But I ain’t paying some guy to pick up a rock and hand it to me.

So instead I asked my friends and family for rocks, which now that I think about it, they might have paid for. Several people offered me rocks and bricks, and then I had something come up that prevented me from taking them up on their offer. I’ll try again later this week.

I forgot about the lizards until Susan told me she found two more floating in the pool. Perhaps instead of a shelter I need to build a lizard fence around the pool. This morning I watched a new lizard — #4, I guess — climb directly up the side of my house. I’m going to need a tall lizard fence.

I may have seen one or two wild lizards before, but I have seen more in my driveway this month than I have seen in my entire life. I like seeing them, and so far, it appears they like learning to swim. Hopefully I can get a tiny shelter built before the rest of them take the Nestea plunge.