BLUE CREEK

After we anchored, we took our dinghy up Blue Cteek in search of alligators. Some might think it foolhardy to seek out alligators in a small blow up rubber boat. However, some others might recall that I once had an alligator for a pet. I had a close relationship with my gator, and as a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure I could communicate two words to him. "Friend" and "food."

So when we saw a gator that was longer than our blow up rubber boat, I had no fear because of my relationship with my old pet. I would just signal "friend" and we'd be fine.

Pam, of course, doubted both my ability to communicate with gators as well as my ability to remember the difference between "friend" and "food". She also brought up in detail the circumstances of my pet gator's untimely demise, involving an explosion, a refrigerator and a dog. If there was to be any relationship today, she expected revenge for a lost relative.

We did see several gators. Some longer than our dinghy. But there was no retaliation from the relatives.