Well, it’s not my usual flora, fauna, water, or sky.  But it was the most eye-catching thing I saw in our neighborhood today, at the beginning of our walk.  It is the pet of our 12-year-old neighbor across the street.  She said it would get to be 3 feet long — and its name is Jasmine.  It just sat there looking alien.  Really.  There *are* aliens among us; we just have to look around.

It makes no noise.  It lives in a cage.  It eats some sort of worm and fruits and lettuce.  It poops only once every 10 days.  Amazing things you learn if you take your walk at the right time.

So when we returned from our walk, there were three 11-12 year old girls, including the dragon owner,  sitting on the lawn/sidewalk next door to our house.   I decided to ask them to taste-test the triple chocolate cookies and the maple chocolate chip blond brownies I had baked.  The cookies won.  I think we all won!