big gator!

well my dear ones,

Thank you for the encouraging responses;

the blogging/journal/e-mails continue...

My wife's been working so hard that

I just wanted to give her

a nice day on the water,

but things didn't work out quite as planned.

The water pump on our outboard was dying;

it was pumping water through the motor,

but not enough.

We only made it a few miles upriver

before the motor overheated and stalled

at a most unusual time.

Sometimes you get just what you need;

there was just enough juice

in the old water pump

to get us to a known gator slide

(gator slide = a matted down area

 on the side of a river or lake

 where a gator suns

 with a cleared-out path

 to get back into the water

 at a moments notice).

There was a huge gator sitting in it,

(at least a 12-footer*, and really fat;

 our boat is only 12 feet long!

 *by the way,

 the distance from the tip of the nose

 to the eyes on a gator in inches

 is the approximate length

 of the gator in feet)

and just as I turned toward it,

so my wife could get pictures,

the gator slid into the water

and came toward our boat.

THAT's when the motor died.

And my wife's like,

"That gator's huge!

 And it's coming toward us...

 why'd you stop the motor?!?"

me: "uh, I didn't."

Got to hand it to my wife;

she took it all in stride;

she didn't freak out,

stayed pretty calm.

Fortunately, the big gator dove under

and did not try to get in our boat. =)

Yet we did get some cool pics of it.

The really cool thing is

today is my Mom's birthday;

so now I have an extra present for her,

pics of something you don’t see everyday

out in the wild.

(my Mom's not computer literate at all,

 but my sis, Di, can hook her up.

 Thanks, Di! Love you!)

And you can all share in my Mom's gift;

you can see the pics here:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=100000203241374

(look for pics uploaded 07 MAY 2011)

Oh yeah,

we were able to limp back to the dock,

by going just a short way at a time,

with plenty of stops

to let the motor cool off.

Have a great week!

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

"I have come that they may have life,

and that they may have it more abundantly."

                              --- Jesus