Today I was looking at my Balcony Garden. Basking in the warmth of the sun, which is something I almost never do in Florida. Usually we hate the damn sun. It burns our skin. And not all of us go to the beach.
Some of us appreciate the beauty of the swamp and all its creatures.
If you look deep into Florida, there’s more than just beaches and cities. There’s the country. Which carries a beauty of it’s own. The beauty of the water and the earth interposed with one another. The Union of Land and Sea.
My garden was reminding me of all the creatures who live here. And I thought of my old friend Greene. This story happened a couple of years ago. The day was unusually chilly for South Florida. Like now.
I was taking my dog out one morning. I found him half frozen on the ground, Greene. Except Greene was brown. He could barely move. And he was breathing so hard I thought he was dying.
He was an Anole lizard, a cousin of the chameleon.
They’re usually light green, but he was brown and his feet were the color of Ash. I snapped a picture of him and sent it to my sister. She studied to be a vet. I was told by her that he wasn’t going to die. He was just cold.
And would thaw out. Just to leave him there. But everything inside me told me not to. Fuck it I thought. I guess I’ll be the idiot to carry a frozen lizard home.
I put him on my terrace. At least there he would be safe there from other animals. Bugs come there if I turn the light on so he’d have food. And at least he wouldn’t be alone. I keep cardboard boxes of all sizes just for this occasion.
I raced home to get a small box. I fitted it with a small mat of sorts. Then I tried to put him inside. But he was so scared, he climbed out the other side of the box. The Adrenaline made him turn his usual color right then and there.
I just stayed there and spoke to him while my neighbors thought I was bat shit crazy.
“If you don’t come with me now you’ll die. I need you to trust me,”
(Yeah, I’m sure that made them think I was less crazy)
He looked at me as if saying Yeah right, you’re one of them. You can’t be trusted. It started raining cold water and I said,
“I’m not leaving without you, so you better get used to my pretty face,”
The God Agemo
He stood there appraising me for 5 minutes. I wondered what could be going on in his mind. I remembered an old story from Yoruba culture. The God Orunmila was friends with the wise Chameleon, Agemo. Agemo helped Orunmila many times. So I prayed to Agemo to help me get this little guy in the box.
Then I suddenly thought, now is the time, get him in. I put him inside. He tried to run but this time he ran inside the box. I sealed the other side. Leaving the open portion for air.
This time he stopped resisting. I asked my animal guides to protect him. As I walked with him in the box, it seemed as if he were resting. I don’t know if he trusted me finally. Or was simply too exhausted, or both.
I positioned him in a corner with a bucket blocking the chilly wind. He opened his mouth and that large balloon thing some lizards have beneath their neck popped out. I half imagined him cursing me with his breath. I put more carpets all around him to keep him warm and offer more protection from the winds. And then I used some healing work for him.
But most importantly, I left it in the hands of the divine ones. I slept warily that night hoping he would be safe. I prayed for the Sun in Florida to pierce the gray skies. Something I never did. I just wanted him to be okay.
I kept remembering him heave air into himself so deeply. I had dreams of him fighting for his life. I couldn’t even get a decent night’s sleep. I hoped beyond hope for this little creature to live. The next day I was caught off guard by something.
I lost my job so I had time to sleep in. I actually wasn’t too upset about losing it. It was a shitty job with shitty pay. And now I got to relax and enjoy sleeping longer. I drank my Cuban coffee.
I decided to get an hour or two of extra sleep only to hear my phone’s ping that I received a text. My Mother snapped a picture and said.
“Look, he’s okay now,”
I don’t have the old picture of him anymore. But this is what he looked like.
I couldn’t believe it. I had to run to the terrace to make sure. And yes there he was. Not only did his color return, but he was mobile now.
I left him be. Didn’t want to scare him off before he was ready to go. The box was still out there for him. And the Sun was shinning through the gray though I continued to pray for the clouds to keep parting and the sun to shine to heat everything up. My prayers were answered.
He seemed to be okay physically. But the way he was sprawled out on the table he had climbed, something was wrong. At some point we had even gotten him dead crickets. Finally, a friend told me they were hunters. And preferred live food.
So I did a trick she taught me. I placed a single banana slice on the table when he wasn’t there. And let it rot to attract flies. When the flies came, he showed up and ate them. Then he ate the banana.
The next morning he began to get his bearings. He stayed for two days. Finally, he left for his true home. My family saw him leave.
I don’t know what Agemo did. But I know that Greene survived when I thought he would die. He’s a tough little guy. I know the spirits guided me.
And the Gods blessed me. And for those who say they didn’t, that it was just me working hard to save him. You didn’t see him that day. I have seen plenty of frozen lizards since then. Just a few years ago we had iguanas falling from the trees in Florida.
They were perfectly fine. When I saw Greene, I expected him to die. He looked like death. I have never seen any animal look like that. Except for animals in their last days.
I know the medicine of the spirits of Florida and the Yoruba people of Nigeria were with him. And with me. Thank you Divine Ones. I wonder every so often, what became of my little friend.
– M
Adventures of A Mage In Miami 