Galahad the Christmas Iguana

I often request bedtime stories because I have a hard time to fall asleep. Once having run out fo the usual fairy tales Paul recounted the arrival of Galahad:

"Once upon a time it was Christmas. And that was the Christmas that Galahad came. Now I admit, I wasn't ready for an iguana, and would have probably dealt better with a less demanding animal like a snake, but my mom hated snakes. My mom even hated Galahad for a long time until she got used to him.

Anyway, Angie and Mom had conspired to get me an iguana. After all the presents were unwrapped, they said, ":But wait! We forgot Paul's last present in the bedroom!" and having just wrapped him up minutes before, they came out with this box and they set it in front of me.

I pulled back the paper thinking "What is this?" when I realized I was looking at a small aquarium. It had astroturf, and a branch, and sitting in the branch was the tiniest little iguana I ever saw.

I was so scared I was going to squeeze him too tight! He had food dishes and stuff too, and later a Vitalite and lamp and heat pad just not when he was wrapped because they wrapepd him in his house. He came with the Vosjoli book so I could learn to take care of him.

He was no longer than my thumb and he was a bright green. I was debating naming him Lord Byron or Sir Galahad but you know already which name won out.

He crawled in my hand and Isat very still, and while everyone else was talking and eating and being Xmassy, Gala stretched out on my thumb and fell asleep there. He was less than a month old -- he had been born in the last week of November like me -- Angie got him from a friend whose iguanas had babies.

She had noticed how fascianted I was with her iguana Iggy, and thought I might like him. Later on that next summer Gala and I drove to Tennesee to meet my dad. He spent the drive on the dash crawling back and forth....

Cat? Cat? I think you are sleeping...."

The pictures here are from that trip to Tennesee, and are the sole pictures of Baby Galahad in existance. Thank you Angie!