My Green Friends Don't Let Me Down (Bearded Dragon photos)

 Posted by Molly Sams

Warning:  part of this post will be about a reptile and have pictures of a reptile. If you don’t like them or you’re scared of reptiles, please skip this post. I promise there will be ones better suited for you soon. Thanks!

About a year and a half or so ago, I made a pretty wonderful decision to adopt a reptile. I wasn’t sure what to get until my friend Cristhian saw a bearded dragon on the rescue site. At the time his name was “Axew.” They also thought he was a girl at first.

I met him, was scared but also loved him, and decided to go through with it. At our second meeting I took the little man home after giving a donation of a whooping $60.

From there we got used to each other. I renamed him Randi, after the magician The Amazing Randi, because he aspired to be a tiny escape artist. Luckily for me, he wasn’t very good. 

After some trial and error I learned his favorite foods, proper lighting, and that he is really into snuggles.

Now he’s my best friend.

So you can imagine how absolutely distraught I was to see he had a lump on his adorable little cheek. It was a day off and I canceled an appointment and meeting a friend to whisk the small man away to an ER vet. There they said he would be fine until next week and I scheduled an appointment with my usual vet the following Monday.  To make this short, Randi is ok but is taking a lot of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. The vet said to refrain from holistic remedies as his liver is too small and might not be able to handle it.  Because of this I’ve been smudging a bit while chamomile and holy basil teas are always on hand (for me).

While I was waiting for the vet to look at him they suggested I run some errands. I had seen a nursery on our way there and decided to stop by. 

I got there and just walking around put my mind at ease. Inside I looked at all of their water garden plants, listened to the fountains, and checked out their impressive bonsai tree collection.

Once I got outside I got to see some of my old friends. Yarrow, lavender, thyme, and echinacea were all there. Being around plants, new and old, helped me remember how to breathe. 

 

Every now and then I forget that plants have and always will be there for me.

 

 Be it by tea, by food, or by divinely showing up in front of me when I am at my most worried.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, thank your plants for being there. Give them a little more love today. Tell them how beautiful their blossoms are. Dust off your houseplants. Thank them as you harvest fruit. Because they have been there for us for as long as we can remember. And, luckily, they’ve stuck around.