Hilton Head Island: sex on the deck; ship’s weasel; unleaked; repair

Calm down.  Not me and Carol,  Anoles, of which I have written here before.  Very small gecko-like lizards.

The weather in the marsh has been similar to South Florida for the past few days.  Sunny mornings; thunderstorms in the afternoons.  Requiring me to cover and uncover our deck furniture and bring in cushions from the chairs on the porch.

Yesterday morning was again sunny and with a ten knot breeze quite pleasant on the deck, so I took my uncooked oatmeal out there.  I found the corner in front of our deck chairs already occupied by a brownish female anole.  How I know she was female will soon be revealed.

She was motionless to the point I wondered if she were dead, until I saw slight movement of her head.

In a few minutes she was joined by a second anole.  This one slightly larger than she and bright green.  He moved to within about two anole lengths of her and after a while raised his head and puffed up his throat like an orange ballon.  Ballon deflated.  Then soon repeatedly inflated and deflated.  Clearly a mating ritual designed to impress.  Whether the female was I am uncertain.

After this went on for a while, he made his move circuitously, slithering to the metal deck railing, climbing up and then along it until he was a few inches above and beside her.  Then a dash, resulting in an equally quick dash by her over the edge of the deck, following by him in what could only be considered hot pursuit.

I assumed that was all I would ever know of this lascivity, but after a few minutes he climbed back onto the deck and stopped.  Perhaps in satiated rest.  Perhaps in disappointment.  A few seconds later her head appeared above the edge of the deck and she gazed at him coyly.  And then a bird flew overhead and they both vanished down the side of the building.

I knew that in the days of sail ships often carried cats on board to reduce the rat population, but in THE CONQUERORS, which is about the unparalleled thirty year explosion of the Portuguese maritime empire beginning with the voyage of Vasco da Gama and which I am now reading, I have learned that they also sometimes carried weasels for the same purpose.  The idea of a ship’s weasel appeals to me, though I don’t expect to share GANNET with one.  Or a rat.

Carol and I walked to GANNET yesterday before it got too hot and I went down below, plugged in a fan, closed up the cabin, and Carol extensively hosed down the deck over the port pipe berth where I have frequently been finding a puddle of water after rain.  I searched for drips and found none, re-enforcing my belief that there is no leak and that the water is coming in from the port side of the closed main hatch.  With the way I have gear stowed when GANNET is at dock she heels slightly to port.

I am scheduled to be repaired Friday.  However I had become tired of being inactive and so cautiously resumed my workouts last Friday.  I did not feel even a twinge and have continued to work out, both my standard and weight workouts.  I might as well build some muscle while I can because I expect that after the surgery I won’t be able to for a while.