The Two Hours We Had a Pet

Our Brijuni inspiration

Yesterday, the kids and I visited a park I hadn't been to before (the kids went the day before with their babysitter).  Because Rijeka is built on a hill, this park had an entire stone retaining wall, upon which, salamanders were sunning.  Salamanders, if you haven't had a chance to see them in the wild, move like lightning, and they disappear almost instantly into little crevices in the stone wall.

Jonah, having become smitten with the idea of a salamander pet during our Brijuni Island visit, decided he wanted to catch one.  But at the moment he made this decision, he had a full-blown bloody nose, and because I didn't have a single tissue on me, he was using his sister's fleece jacket in lieu of a kleenex.  He asked me to get him a plastic bag (which I did have, since we were

A proud, new pet owner

headed to the store afterwards), to which I said, "sure, Jonah, go catch yourself a little salamander. (wink, wink)"  The next thing I know, my 8 year old boy, perched on the back seat of a park bench, with one hand holding a pink fleece jacket over his nose, in a muffled voice, was yelling "I got it! Where's the bag?  Hurry!!!" with a three inch long wildly wiggling green salamander dangling by his tail from Jonah's one free hand.  He had the hugest smile on his face.

So we brought the thing home (having bought a plastic tub for it at the supermarket) and put it on our balcony.  Within a couple hours, it had escaped. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the flimsy plastic wrap that I insisted would be better for air circulation than the lid of the tupperware.  At this very moment, the kids and Adam are out trying to catch a replacement (so that I could go for a run and get in shape for the April 29 Royal Wedding), so I'd better go set the plastic wrap out.