I had a good laugh at myself this weekend.   Since Iceman was not home, I found myself standing in my family room with a long broom trying to work up the courage to swing and swat the huge spider (no exaggeration) high up on the wall. 

I am a strong, independent woman in most areas of my life- spiders are not one of them. 

I could have stood on the couch and smooshed him with my shoe, but that would have put me way too close to the terrifying creature. 

Random thoughts swirled in my brain.  “How did he even get in the house?!”  “Why did he have to visit when I was home alone?”  “What if I miss?”

My heart grew faint, even as it pounded. 

“What if I miss and HE RUNS OFF?”  “What if I don’t swing and HE RUNS OFF?”  Then, I’ll know I have a spider loose in the house!  Nope, nope, nope! 

I stared at Mr. Spider from a broom length away and he seemed to stare back, daring me to try.

A standoff…

Spiders stop me in my tracks, yet, I am not afraid of the small desert lizards like the guy above.

During a vacation, Iceman and I were sitting on the porch enjoying the morning when he casually points and says, “Look at that”.

“Look at what?”, I said as I scanned the area, squinting, seeing nothing.

“The lizard on the rock”, he says.  I laughed, there were a lot of rocks!  None had lizards that I could see.

After additional direction, I finally saw the small lizard.  Since he seemed content to sun himself, I went to get my camera to see if I could capture his photo.  For reference, the yellow flowers in the photo are about the size of a half dollar, maybe a bit smaller.  He’s a tiny little dude! 

And, my husband saw him from the porch, many feet away, while drinking coffee.  Maybe I should change his nickname from Iceman to Vision.

Our little friend seems to be a Sagebrush Lizard or a Western Fence Lizard, both have the bright blue belly seen in the photo.  We think he’s a Sagebrush given his size and location.  He enjoyed the warm sun on the rock; I enjoyed the shade on the porch as I took his photo.

And for those wondering about the terrifying spider from this weekend.  My sons tease me about “throwing like a girl”.  I may throw like a girl, but I spider swing like a world series champion! The spider did not make it; I’m pretty sure he hit the floor with a thud! 

I barely heard it over the pounding of my own heart. 

Moral of the story: In more ways than one, don’t mess with a lady who has a broom!  😊