Right behind my house is a nature trail that leads to the outskirts of Magic Mountain. Every once in a while I take a stroll down the path to ease my mind and take in the beautiful scenery around me. The nature trail connects the dense woodlands to the confined desert, both featuring nice scenery and a diverse array of wildlife. From baby chicks to praying mantises to toads, I encounter unique animals everytime I go for a walk. But the one animal that I never fail to see, whether they’re walking on the asphalt or sunbathing on a wooden post, are lizards.
One day during summer, I had, being the responsible student that I was, woken up in the afternoon. There wasn’t much to do that day, so I decided to relax and watch some shows on my computer until my parents got back home. As I adjusted my glasses and blinked out lazy tears, I saw something from the corner of my eye. Like a cinematic shot depicting a glorious hero with the sun blazing behind him, there it was: a tiny fence lizard. It sat right on top of my desk, just staring at me in a contest of wills. I was paralyzed. A million thoughts ran through my head, but eventually they all led back to one conclusive question. Why is there a lizard in my room? Before I had the chance to ponder such a philosophical inquiry, the lizard, which I decided would be called Bartholomew, darted from my desk and landed on the carpet. From there, it scurried into my closet, all within seconds. To this day, I haven’t seen Bartholomew again, nor have I heard anything from him, so I can only hope for his safety. I do hope that he knows that he’s late on rent.
But lizards aren’t just located in the inside of my closet, and are actually found in different places all over the world. In fact, when talking about Bartholomew to my friend, Eve, who currently lives in Florida, she noted that “Lizards are really common here! They‘re always around, but I’ve always seen them around gardens or bushes in neighborhoods. They‘re little green ones, Anoles, I think they’re called. We also have a lot of other ones too! Skinks with blue tails and just small brown ones hanging around.”
There is a whole world out there. It always fascinates me whenever I get to observe nature and just watch as animals go about their daily lives doing whatever they need to do that day. It’s a nice breath of fresh air to change up the normality, and it never fails to brighten my day whenever I get to see a bird or a toad in their element – or mine. So if you’re ever feeling a bit stressed out from a particularly bad day, or incredibly bored with life, go for a nature walk! You’ll be surprised at what you may not have noticed before.
Timothy Kim Grade 10
Oakwood Secondary School
