Monday, July 24, 2006

Where's My Camera? Wait, Where's My Paddle?!?

I didn't take this picture, it is stock footage. I was busy paddling. Alisha and I took a nice, leisurely evening paddle on the Nueces River last evening. We put in at Hazel Bazemore Park and paddled up to the salt water break at Labonte Park. On our way back, we were paddling along, enjoying the evening as the sun set when all of a sudden things got interesting. Suddenly, the water on the right side of the kayak was all frothy. Then the boat started lifting up out of the water. I looked down to see the back of a friendly south texas alligator. It was hard to tell how big it was since it was underwater, and surrounded by splashing water, not to mention the fact that it scared the _____ out of me. It was over in an instant and we went back to paddling. All the splashing soaked us both to the skin.

As scary as big teethy alligators can be, seeing one is actually a rare blessed moment. Despite what scary movies make you think creatures in the wild know better than to hang around with humans. The chances of actually having that close of an encounter with a gator is probably somewhat like getting struck by lightening. They do have more problems with them in Florida because humans have made the mistake of feeding them so they have lost their fear.

Have a blessed week and keep you feet out of the water.

peace,

will

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I had a dream once about an alligator showing up in the parking lot of the apartment complex in Austin where I lived at the time, and I was afraid to go outside for awhile. It was a dream! After your real-live encounter I would need therapy. Thanks for sharing!