Nest Egg

For the past couple of months the back porch light, the one that lights up the area little Chandler poops in, has been broken. I first noticed it would sometimes flicker on and off while Molly was still alive, but she knew that dog run by heart and didn't really need the light. Chandler, however, seems frightened by the dark and I am tired of following him with a flashlight, so I went to Home Depot and purchased a new fixture. It of course was made in China and is a piece of crap, but I now take that into consideration when I buy things, so that I am prepared when the pieces don't quite fit.

When I removed the old light fixture, I wasn't surprised by what I found. A full blown lizard nest complete with eggs filled the electrical box behind the light fixture, and a fried adult lizard lay across the electrical wires. This is not unusual here in South Florida. Around here you will find just about everything nesting in and around your home. For example, this summer we were overrun with spiders. Everywhere I turned I was walking into spider webs, and I never could be sure if the spider got away or it had dropped down my shirt or crawled into my hair. Every morning I would have to walk through the yard swinging a broom wildly, to knock down the webs. But I digress.

After removing the lizard eggs and bits and pieces of lizard, I carefully installed the new light fixture. Naturally nothing fit right, and no matter how I tried, the thing wouldn't fit flush against the wall. Once again, I wasn't surprised. I haven't purchased one product in the last five years that wasn't made in China, and I haven't found one of them to be produced to any standard beyond being cheap.

Unfortunately we have little choice. The Chinese have our factories, and our jobs, and now I think they are going to have all our money. Somehow I just can't get over the feeling that China is going to end up with an extra seven hundred billion dollars soon. Meanwhile, I have a flimsy light fixture that will probably blow away in the next hurricane, but at least my dog can now see to poop.