Stan, my new gecko

 A new addition to the menagerie is Stan, the Standings Day Gecko. I've kept many Day Geckos but never a Standings. Their markings-- green head, blue tail and contrasting stripes-- fade as they get older and they go a little baggy and grey. But don't we all!

Here he (or she) is in all his juvenile glory. 

House Opposite in full splendor

 Caught it on the 23rd. 

This is what it looks like from inside my yard-- in case you're wondering why I find it so striking. 

I know reflections are famously eye-catching. I read many stories as a kid (all of which featured someone with a name like Indian Jim) that had Jim flashing a heliograph to signal our boys as a plot point. 

"Why, it's Indian Jim! He has reached the hiding place--see that flash?"

"It's more than three leagues hence but it's as bright as the sun!"

(I may be mixing Cowboys and pirates there.) 

It's the fixed nature of the mirrors on the house that make it special, along with its timing - presaging the coming of spring. 

The House Opposite That Lights Up at Dawn to Presage The Coming of Spring

 The House Opposite That Lights Up at Dawn to Presage The Coming of Spring is back, baby!

The owner's renovations worked and the dawn glow is back in business this year.

This photo was taken two days ago. The brightest reflection would have been this morning but I overslept two days in a row. Dunno what this means about the prospect of spring.

I don't know yet if the owners/restorers have filled in the erosion on the slope below the house. It's been a rainy year thus far and the vegetation is a lot thicker than usual. The house looks great with its new black (instead of red) roof and new paint.

I'll try to get another shot of the spring glow tomorrow.

I talked about the renovations previously in October 2025 (when the house opposite lights up at dawn to presage the coming of winter), and about a pilgrimage to the house itself in 2020, when the poor thing was going into a bit of a slump.