As part of our anniversary celebration yesterday, we took Zoe and Mira over to the nearby Harbor Park (officially known as The Ken Malloy Regional Park) to see if we could see what was happening with the locally famous alligator hunt. I was the only one who enthusiastically wanted to go there, but after a while the girls seemed to enjoy it.
I learned that some alligator handlers from Florida had taken some kayaks down the small tributaries hoping to find the elusive creature. After almost two weeks of trying to catch this wily gator, the now famous animal is still on the loose.
While walking along the shore of the lake I met lots of interesting people, including a reporter for the Associated Press. At least, the young woman told me that she that was who she was. She proceeded to ask me why we'd come out to the park that day, then took down my responses in a little notebook.
After talking with me, the reporter turned to the girls and asked what they thought should be done to catch the alligator, asked our names and dutifully wrote those reponses down in her little book as well. I doubt though that we will be actually quoted in any article, as our answers weren't all that colorful, but this is a neat little story to tell.
I did enjoy watching some local boys catching frogs. When I asked what they plan to do with the frogs, they told me that they planned to sell them. I'm not quite sure who they thought would buy them, but they were having the kind of fun that made me think of simpler times.
Zoe seemed most enthralled with a flattened out dead frog that the kids discovered. The poor deceased creature was flipped over several times to make sure that it really was dead, but more probably because children are just naturally curious, and like the rest of us, grapple with the mysteries of life and death.
A little further down the lakeside, I talked with a man catching some kind of crab for his dinner. I asked if he thought that they were safe to eat, as I'd heard that the water in the lake was polluted. The man told me that he did it all the time and that they were good when cooked in a soup. This fellow didn't look all that well to me, and I wondered if eating these crabs what was all that stood between him and hunger.
I would have stayed longer, but Pete and the girls had had enough. I think I'll go back this weekend. I don't know why we haven't explored this local beautiful spot before. I know that it has always had some kind of unsavory reputation. There have always been rumors of drug gangs and other frightening groups hanging out. I don't know if those rumors true, but all I saw were people. Friendly people. And, I felt a connection.
Posted by Judi at August 26, 2005 12:42 PM | TrackBack