Ode to Verde

Well, the time came and I always kind of dreaded the day when our pet iguana of many years would pass away and she did today. Her name was Verde and she was a 3 foot iguana that entered my life when I began dating AJ.

AJ has a love for all things animals and pets. If it is a pet, most likely he has had one in his lifetime. I could write a bunch of posts on each of the pets he has had plus all the ones we have had as a married couple. Each time we have moved it always seems like we have a zoo behind us as we forge on to our new living destination.

Verde entered AJ's life a wee tiny little iguana. Yeah, the kind you see at the pet store that look all sweet and innocent and only about 4-5 inches long. From the beginning they all thought she was a male and referred to her as a him and named her Verde. Then she began to grow and develop and look more and more like the iguanas you see in Mexico that people let you take your picture with for $5. Only she never got that big. At one point, she was shedding a lot of skin and had some discolorations on her back so AJ to her to a local vet who specializes in reptiles and found out, he was a she. Verde was not big enough or colorful enough to be a male, but she was a perfect female size.

When AJ and I started dating 9 years ago, I met Verde. She was an iguana and was impressive and I learned all about her. I held her and wasn't afraid of her as she was a vegetarian so there was no reason for her to bite me unless I was holding her food. She was fast and AJ would let her out of her cage on occasion while he cleaned the cage and she would head to the sun or warmest spot in the room. She loved being warm! Many times we would that she had escaped her cage for a houseplant that looked green and yummy or a warm spot on the water heater. Often times she was such a good hider when she got out we would use the dogs to help locate her because we couldn't find her. And then when the dogs would find her, they would bark and where ever she was hiding only her tail would be sticking out. The dogs freaked her out so I think she hid more out of survival than a game.

A few stories about Verde. When we moved back in with AJ's parents we set up her cage in the garage as there was just not enough room in our room for all our stuff plus Verde. The cage had seen better days and was truly getting to be on its last leg but AJ would always fix it just enough that it would last a bit longer. It was a homemade cage and huge. So off Verde went living in the garage and eating and climbing around her cage. One Saturday afternoon the neighbor lady from across the street came over and asked us if we had a reptile as it may have gotten out and was in her flower pot eating her flowers. Well, this was a huge surprise to us but sure enough across the street we went and it was Verde munching away on the leaves in the flowerpot. I could only imagine what it must have been like for this iguana to make its way all the way across the street and in to her flowerpot. Imagine if someone had been driving by, it would have been crazy! AJ just picked her up and carried her back to her cage and we then had to patch up a hole we didn't know about and more securely close the main door so she wouldn't escape again.

The other thing I mentioned about Verde is all the moves she has made with us. The biggest was moving from Oregon to Las Vegas and then back to Oregon 2 years later. After AJ and I got married and packed our U-haul with everything we owned, we put Verde in a dog carrier and set her in the middle of the seat between us with a heating pad plugged in to the cigarette lighter and headed out to Las Vegas. We had a good two day drive ahead of us and knew at some point we would stop for the night at a hotel that accepted pets and that would be that. We didn't make any reservations in hopes of making it as far as we could that first day. Well, due to a major rain and lightning storm, we had to stop a little sooner than planned. We called all sorts of hotels asking if they accepted pets and often times when they would ask us what we had and we replied an iguana, the answer suddenly was no. Here's the thing, Verde was so scared and cold, she didn't come out of the cage in the room. We just didn't and couldn't leave her in the moving truck all night, she would freeze!

Finally, the last place we called AJ said not to say anything about Verde and we would just sneak her in. So I made the reservation and AJ checked in and we brought Verde to our room through a side entrance and no one ever knew she was there! It was an adventure and her cage was the last thing we packed and the first thing we set up so she was happy once she was in her cage and settled again. Plus, Vegas felt like her homeland; warm, dry and sunny!

Oh, Verde, we will miss you. For all the bunches of collard, mustard, kale and turnips greens that we bought you and for all the times AJ had to clean your cage, we still loved you. We thought you might live forever after moving you so many times and at some point may have included you as a dependent in our will. I guess not now. But you will always hold a dear spot in our hearts as our iguana.

:(