Wild kingdom

My absolute, no-holds-barred favorite native Georgia animals are the lizards. Ours especially like to hang out among the plants on the porch. Today I was watering the jasmine when a chartreuse lizard, about three inches long plus tail, sprang out and started testily inflating his little red throat balloon at me. Then he calmed down and kept an eye on me to make sure I didn't make any more sudden moves. I watched him for a while, and he watched me.

I've had a very productive gardening day, probably because I keep taking "study breaks" from editing the project I'm about to turn in! I planted more salsify and chard seeds to make up for a few plants that have been taken by animals. (What's the Warner Bros. cartoon I'm thinking of, where little gophers or something stroll along in their underground tunnel, yanking plants under as they go? Something like that has happened here.) I also planted four Asian eggplants from seed--the locales are marked by sticks in the mache bed. Mache supposedly hates hot weather, so by the time the eggplants get going, it'll be long gone.

We have waited all day for a giant truck of hardwood mulch that hasn't come. No phone call, either. I guess they'll come tomorrow.