"Come-a-Come-a-Come-a-Chameleon!"

What'dah...

The other day, as I was driving to Mandeville, LA from my home in Folsom, a funny, scared and wind blown creature was staring back at me. It was probably wondering what else could go wrong today as the little animal was turning all kinds of colors hoping somehow one of them on its palette would work.

Once I recognized what it was, all I could think of was the phrase, "Stop this world, I wanna get off!"

But it was not to be. The one lane highway was full of traffic moving south at about fifty plus miles per hour. I wasn't sure that if once I pulled over to a gas station, down the road a few miles, it would solve the problem.The little creature could just as easily slide back down between the wiper blades and the hood to hide.

Occasionally, the little guy, ( let's assume it is a male because he never asked for directions! ) once it realized that it was lost, would attempt to take action and stick his head up above the blades. Maybe, he was contemplating a great escape, only to have the wind from my accelerating and decelerating, give him cause to reconsider his options.

Testing the wind...

Laughing at his predicament, I thought what a great shot this situation would make, if only...

Oh wait, I do have my camera with me, for once, when I need it.

This shot below was the best shot of the dozen or so I took. Photographing this little guy, reminded me of the many times I drove the freeways of Los Angeles with one hand on the steering wheel and on hand on the shot button of my Nikon FM. This was back in the day when one hour photo services were an illustrator's saving grace. Time meant so much when it came to meeting one's deadlines. With many car accounts like Saturn, Acura, Toyota, Nissan and all their luxury lines, it seemed like I was always on the freeway, in all kinds of traffic, shooting at all times of the day. That was then...

Will you please stop this moving thing?

... and this is now. And now, I had been on the road for about twenty minutes or so. Watching the dude's facial contortions and body reactions as he continued to check out his options for a safe ride, if not a safe escape, made me wonder just what he was thinking. His face seemed to say to me, as he stared, "I spent the better half of the spring, looking for a place I could call my own... like my own territory. Territory I don't have to fight for or defend and have to do that expanding and threatening neck muscle thing!"

"You know, have your own crib, chillin', invite some of the ladies... maybe, share a porch light dinner with that special one. Hell, maybe even settle down! But no, I had to find out that my little piece of heaven, moves!"

"No wonder no one wanted to challenge me for this turf. Everybody knew, in this hood, it wasn't worth the ground it stood on!"

"Everyone, but me!"

I hate you!

Copyright 2013/ Ben Bensen III