The Legend of Grandpa Gecko

What is a legend? Well according to dictionary.com, the definition of a legend is a nonhistorical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.

Well when MR was staying with me a couple of weeks ago, the story of Grandpa Gecko began. One night, MR and I were surfing the net at my kitchen table when she went to the bathroom that is attached to our guest bedroom. She came back from the bathroom looking like she had seen a ghost. Nope, she just "supposedly" saw a huge gecko in the bathroom. The story goes that it was a greenish color and went scurrying up the wall and out an opening above the exhaust fan. Well, I got out the good old lizard repellent and sprayed it all around the exhaust fan. Of course, I really have no clue whether or not this stuff actually works, but I think it made MR feel better. She claims that she slept that night with the lights on and her eyes open! She named the gecko Grandpa.

So, the legend of Grandpa Gecko began. She told everyone we ran into the rest of the time she was here about Grandpa. I was harassing her pretty hard about the gecko...that was of course until I saw a large gecko scurry up the wall by the staircase a few nights later. I told her that it was Grandma Gecko looking for Grandpa. Then a few nights later I saw a large gecko by the large sliding glass window in our dining room. I didn't want the gecko to leave the window so I sat staring and watching it to make sure it didn't go anywhere. I got a photo of it and e-mailed it to MR, but she said it wasn't green enough to be Grandpa. So, I named that gecko Elvis. When S got home over an hour later, Elvis left the building (with the assistance of S and the broom).

When MR left a few days ago, I gave her a green paper gecko so that she would always remember Grandpa Gecko. Her husband and I had a good laugh at her...she was also laughing. Little did I know that the last laugh would be on me.

Tonight, S and I were watching a movie in the bedroom. I got up to go in the bathroom to brush my teeth. I opened the bathroom door, which we always keep shut, went in, and flipped on the light. I turned around to shut the door, and there was a large gecko on the door frame. I'm not exactly sure what I said (plus I probably couldn't repeat it in my blog even if I did remember) but S knew something was wrong. I told him to go get the broom. Well while he took an eternity to go downstairs to get the broom, I was able to get a good look at this gecko. I'm sure it was definitely Grandpa Gecko.

The gecko was on the door frame at about the height of my head. I had to have come within an inch of it when I walked through the door. Plus how I didn't touch it when I turned the light on, I have no clue. Every night when I get up to go to the bathroom, I always turn the light on to make sure there aren't any geckos in the bathroom. The window in this bathroom has a huge opening in it, and I have been expecting every night for months now to see a gecko in the bathroom. Nothing though until tonight. This gecko was definitely greenish in color and even looked old. The thing that really freaked me out though is that it kept sticking it's tongue out at me and turning it's head. It was almost like it was taunting me and saying "na, na, boo, boo, you can't catch me." It finally started to go around the door frame and thus out of the bathroom into the bedroom. Yikes! I kept looking around the bathroom for something to nudge it back in, but I came up with nothing. Finally, just as this was happening, S got his slow behind back with the broom and was able to corral it back into the bathroom. I opened the window, and S was able to get it out. I ran and got the lizard repellent. I think I used half the can on the window!

I can no longer harass MR about Grandpa Gecko as I have came face to face with him. Lost a few years off of my life doing so, but I guess that's what I get for living in a lizard infested part of the world...and so goes the legend of Grandpa Gecko.