The Mixed-Up Chameleon (188/365)

 
The true Chameleon is small,
A lizard sort of thing;
He hasn't any ears at all,
And not a single wing.
If there is nothing on the tree,
'Tis the Chameleon you see.

Carolyn Wells (1862–1942), U.S. poet. How to Tell the Wild Animals (l. 31–36). . .Fireside Book of Humorous Poetry, The. William Cole, ed. (1959) Simon and Schuster.

TIME:  1:43 PM
PLACE:  The Library
SUBJECT:  StellaDella and a chameleon

As part of our library’s summer reading program, they invited the owner of a local reptile shop – The Tye-Dyed Iguana – to educate the kids about exotic reptiles.  There was a lizard, boa constrictor (a female named “Jack”), a Madagascar hissing cockroach, this chameleon, and a very long, very large albino python.  I confess, I forgot the name of this chameleon, but I do remember the name of the python – Aphrodite.  The owner, Matt, let the kids come up in groups and hold her as she was stretched out.  At the end, about six of us parents were holding her and she had enough – we got snake musked!  Not the most pleasant aroma…but it’s what snakes do when they get fed up with everyone holding them.

Now StellaDella wants a lizard.  That is so not happening – we have too many pets as it is right now.