Lloyd and Leila

My son Garratt is an animal lover.  Always has been.  As a little boy, he'd go to the fence in a pasture and horses would come to him.  His litany of pets (and therefore ours) was long: a bunny named Michelle, a Jackson chameleon named Jack (of course), a guinea pig named Pete, a cockatiel named Lloyd Christmas, various fish, and then our family pets Millie (our golden retriever) and Lucy, his sister's cat.

Years ago, Lloyd would entertain us by whistling the Andy Griffith theme song.  But to be honest, none of us was too disappointed when Lloyd's clipped wings grew back and he flew the coop.  His chirping was loud and long.

Now that Garratt's grown, he has his own dog, Leila.  Two days before Christmas, we had a "shake the house" thunderstorm.  Late that night we got a text message from Garratt: "Please pray for me.  I just got home from work and Leila's gone".  In her fright from the thunder, she'd jumped the fence and ran off to who knew where.  Bob went over, armed with a flashlight, and searched through the coffeefarm where Garratt lives.  No Leila. I went back first thing next morning to do my own looking.  Nothing.

The next day, on Christmas morning, right after we'd opened the last gift, we got a call from his house-mate "Tell Garratt I've got a nice present looking right at me!"  Muddy and wet, but there she was in all her tail-wagging glory.

Another two days went by, and Bob and I were on our lanai having our morning coffee.  He'd just read that the Andy Griffith show was being released on DVD, and wouldn't his mom and dad enjoy it?  A moment later, a streak flew through the sky and landed on the traveler's palm right by our lanai.  Lloyd?!?  He stayed for a couple of hours, chirping his head off.  And then he was gone.  When I told Garratt, he said he was glad - the bird was more trouble than it was worth!  That prayer was more effective than we had imagined.  So now, we're on the look out for our Jackson chameleon!