Mamma, There's a 'Nother Gator In the House!!!

Remember this? From the movie Monsters Inc.? At the end, the bad guy, Randall, gets sent to a closet that opens in this trailor on a swamp and the daughter yells to her mom that another gator is in the house. They then proceed to chase Randall. It's comical and a punishment fit for a kid's movie - especially since Randall kinda looks like an alligator.

I always liked that part of the movie. But now it means oh so much more to me. I live in Florida now and look, I've always knows alligators live here. I've been here. I go to alligator farms and zoos almost every year. I seriously know a lot about these creatures. And we came down last spring to visit Josh's brother and his fam in Gainsville, Florida. They talked about gators being in the swamps and stuff.

Fine.

Fine.

But now, I actually live here. AND I live ON the water. Not the ocean. St. John's River. That's fresh water. The whole base is like a big swamp on our side.

First few days, no big deal. We even went to St. Augustine to see the gators pictured below at the Alligator Farm. In a zoo. Behind bars and shatter-proof glass. Where they BELONG:

But then, I was actually here enough. I went about my day. And it happened. I SAW them. Gators. Real live ones. BIG ones. Not like, down the road, or a few miles away in the swamp... IN MY BACK YARD.

This big fella was sunning himself on hole #2 of the blue 9 holes at the NAS Jax golf course. I wasn't sure if he was real or not at first. He's like six feet long! Huge! We had to drive RIGHT past him on the cart path. Don't worry, I practically live on the golf course. No big deal.

And I (sadly) do not have a picture of the next gator (though not for lack of trying...he was gone before I got back with my camera). But I was out for my 12 mile run. I have to run all around where we live to get this far because the base isn't that big. I ran back and forth in my neighborhood. Houses. Children. Playing outside. I stopped by some water thinking I might see a gator, but I just saw a turtle the size of a serving plate plop into the water. Which was still exciting for me.

Next time around I looked for my little turtle friend and almost jumped out of my skin. A 4-foot gator was right there! Right where the turtle was! Right by the houses and the kids and ME! On the other side of the road there was a fence around the water/swamp, but not on this side...the side with the gator!

And secretly, part of me loves it, ok? It's sweet. Gators. Right here. I literally watch where I step near the water for fear of losing a limb. And I always want to see one now. But then I actually do, and pretty much run away while looking back over my shoulder...