Let's Say We Go to Gatorland

You can well imagine what the first thing I put in my tote bag before leaving this morning for Gatorland can't you? Clever readers will immediately know that my fresh batteries went into my bag even before my cameras.

It is common knowledge that I love to go to Gatorland. Low key, free parking, and even better, discounts! Yesterday morning, while visiting Ace Hardware for a pool supply (a long story), I ran into my sister-in-law's sister, Margie. Margie and I share a great fondness for Gatorland; during our conversation she reminded me that this month is $9.99 for Florida residents. Heck, it cost more than that to go to the movies! What was stopping me? Arriving this morning, I discovered that I qualified for two discounts---over 55 was the same price as Florida residents--- I told the nice young man at the ticket window, take your pick.

Driving there the words from the Art Biz coach ran through my head--marketing 60% or more, creating the rest. Well, just this once???

A Gator picture I took at Gatorland a few years ago when we took the "kids" there around Christmas time has been quite the seller for me. Yeah, it is wildly popular! Only this last weekend an 11x14 print made it's way to England. So, there's that. Plus, my last visit was for my birthday, nearly nine months ago, so I needed a Gatorland fix, and knowing that rain would be falling later in the day, I took off after my bike ride this morning.

Mostly I'm going to show you some photographs taken there today, and once you've seen them, you, too, will love Gatorland!

Let's start with this peacock who must be molting because he sure is missing some tail feathers!

If you've never been to this fantastic old Florida attraction, you might not know that there are a ton of birds living there. Now you do.

Woo hoo! A white peacock, although he never once showed me anything more than this. There are macaws, parrots, and loads of shorebirds. While visiting the barnyard area I chatted with the young man selling feed. He was such a nice guy, having moved here from California after hearing his friend say how great it is to work at Gatorland. Nice, huh?

Apparently, the macaws like to eat ice cream cones if given the opportunity!

Aren't those claws something else? That young man was so loving up on this bull...

I was really touched by his tender nature. He mentioned that the employees move around, staying in one area for only a few hours. Later on I saw him in the budgie feeding area with a bird on his shoulder, loving it up as well.

The flamingos are awesome, although it is hard to get any really good shots because they pretty much spend all of their time skimming the water for food.

HaHa! You thought I was exaggerating about the birds I bet!! I wasn't!

This emu was something else, having both an orange eye and a blue one.

But wait, you're thinking, I thought it was called Gatorland for a reason. It is, it is-- hold your horses, I'm getting to the gators!

It seems as if the cockatoo prefers palm fronds over ice cream cones....

So, after roaming around at my leisure, the crowds being thin and all, I realized that a storm was a brewing and I wanted to stick around to see how the animals behave during one of our monster Florida rainstorms. Well, I can tell you this, they get active. The employees carried the macaws into a bird house because they apparently go a little crazy during storms. I saw one fellow with three large birds on his arms, walking into what I guess is the bird house, and let me tell you it was LOUD!

Plenty of one of the ugliest birds you'll see, the word storks, made their way to the roof tops.

Their bodies are not so different, but by golly their heads and beaks are awful!

They are nearly as ugly as the alligators! Their heads look like reptiles don't they? One thing that is kinda weird about Gatorland is that it is off a main road--Orange Blossom Trail, or 441 as some folks call it, and just on the other side of the street, life goes on like anywhere else.

When I was a girl, there was not a blessed thing out that far from Orlando, but these days things are entirely different. To get there I took Orange Avenue to Town Center Blvd. which runs through a gigantic development called Hunter's Creek. There are loads of lovely homes, and unlike our part of town, everything is relatively new. Still, it is about 15 miles from downtown, and I would not want to call that area of town home. That may have something to do with my age....

Gators Gail? Where are the gators? Coming, I promise!

The sky darkened, the birds began flying around frantically

And the rain came down in buckets! There are plenty of covered walkways, so no worries for Mrs. Camera Crazy! I was happy things cooled down to be honest with you. I was under cover by the exit to the gift shop just watching the animals. Make that the gators!

That's a big boy for you! He/she pretty much stayed just like that throughout the storm, but looking to my left I saw some folks under another cover with a scad of gators hanging around them.

I watched awhile from afar,  and finally I just had to go see what was going on. Scurrying through the uncovered areas, I made my way over, and discovered that they were feeding the gators, causing all the action. Food will do that--make that turkey hot dogs. They were kind enough to let me watch and take a few photos including one of this hungry guy.

Yikes!!! I have to admit this was very entertaining. The folks were British tourists, and no doubt this was quite a rare occurrence for them. Heck, it's a rare occurrence for a Floridian, and there are gators all over the place here! I suspect they'll have some exciting Florida tales to tell once they get home.

No visit to Gatorland these days is complete without a stop to see the "white gators", which are not really white at all.

Not to be confused with albino gators, they are actually ivory colored with blue eyes. Because they would suffer in the bright Florida sunshine, the four gators are housed in a special covered area. As you can see, this one has some of the regular "gator" coloring. Those teeth look pretty scary to me!

While talking to David this afternoon I told him some of the photographs were so life-like they gave me the shivers! In reality they have this netting, which must keep the gators from getting at the spectators, or I'm presuming it does.

After all, the park has been open now for more than 50 years, so they seem to know what they are doing! I know I sure like the place, and I bet you will too.

Home

Duh--I didn't realize that young woman I meet who don't know how to cook never took Home Economics in school. I wonder how long it's been missing from the curriculum? Probably the same length of time boys haven't been taking shop. The author of the piece makes a very good case for re-introducing the subject, only this time boys undoubtedly would be welcome. I know there are young woman and men who paid attention to their parents teachings, but from what I hear all the time--not enough.

If it weren't for Home Ec, I'm sure I never would have learned to sew. I can still recall making my very first A-line skirt out of blue kettlecloth. There was no waistband, only facing, and a zipper. My teacher claimed I'd never learn--she was wrong. I had a STRONG desire for new clothing in those days which in a family of six children were hard to come by. Carol and Nancy followed my example by becoming excellent seamstresses--much better than me.

Although our mother owned a terrific sewing machine, it mostly went unused because she hated sewing. As I recall she said it made her nervous. Thus, home ec was invaluable to me. Cooking, on the other hand, was something my mother knew how to do, and do well. You wouldn't know it sometimes because just as soon as we were capable, the cooking duties were shifted to the girls, beginning with Maureen who carried the burden of feeding our family long before she should have. Because she moved out when I was thirteen, I came up to bat next. As far as the younger girls are concerned, I don't think it was quite so bad.

The previous paragraph may sound a bit harsh, however, I sure learned how to make quantities of food, a skill which served me well while I had a houseful of boys. Because I carried the idea with me that I'd been forced to do so much at a young age, I erred on the other side, never making the boys do things I could. Furthermore, Bruce did the same. That said, we did teach them how to cook, clean, do laundry, take care of a lawn, manage money...that sort of thing. We just didn't use them as "slave" labor.

It would be easier to hold a grudge against my parents, however, I choose not to. Ever the eternal optimist, I try to focus on the good they instilled with their mostly non-existent parenting skills. It made me responsible, focused, and competent at a good number of things. As well, we had food, and mostly plenty of it, something that many people can not say, especially these days.

Finally, while still on the subject of home economics, I can say with confidence that I have used what I learned in those classes far more than what I learned in algebra! Bring it on for the next generation.

Bruce left just a bit ago for the airport. He was not thrilled because he just concluded an 11 day stint, mostly working from home. Because he was able to get so much done at home without the distraction of traveling and co-workers, he had time to do the yard on Saturday while I was at the market. My, the yard looks very nice despite the ongoing heat. Loafing around at home with Baxter on Sunday was a rare treat. Of course, he still worked as a "roadie" but other than those few hours, he mostly relaxed. Yesterday, we took a little road trip.

Before we talk about that, I'll tell you I still haven't heard anything, negative or positive. Maybe today? The markets surprised me both days--very nice sales. Between the two there were 28. While setting up on Sunday a couple stopped for a moment, saying how great something would look in their home. Claiming they would be back, both Bruce and I were skeptical because we've heard that before. Call me shocked when they returned after Bruce left, buying both a large canvas and two small ones. They even told me to keep the change! If that weren't enough, later in the day, another young man did the same, giving me $60 for a $50 purchase. Can you believe that? Another bonus was the temperature was not so blistering. I called it a "teaser" weekend because you and I both know we are still in for a month of hot weather. Soon, very soon, it will get cooler.....

Predictions of 60% rain chance did not keep us from heading out of the driveway just after 7 on Labor Day. Heading up towards Ocala, we stopped in Eustis at a Huddle House for delicious breakfast. Bruce said I made the short order cooks day when I told him I enjoyed watching him juggle the orders while we were eating at the counter. Onwards....

Our plan was to visit Silver Springs, home of the famous glass bottomed boats. Claiming that no amount of begging his parents yielded a trip there, he wanted to make up for that earlier denial. After our visit he claimed he was still miffed that he'd not been able to visit during it's heyday. More on that momentarily...

For a long time Bruce has wondered about the Rodman Dam, part of an aborted attempt to construct a cross Florida barge canal system. Because it was only 15 miles up the road from our turn off to SS, we went. Now he's seen it and so have you.

Bruce joined others for a few casts:

Some readers may be unfamiliar with the knobs jutting out of the land in the foreground. Cypress knees. Funny name, but that's what they are called. 

Crisscrossing the forest, we made our way to Silver Springs. Bruce does not like me to take his picture nearly as much I as I'd like to. Here's his idea of a shot!

Originally, we'd planned to do the glass bottomed boats, however, the lines were long so we skipped it. I'm glad the lines were long, because from the condition of the park, they can use all the revenue that comes their way. The highlights were actually seeing some great animals. I'm crazy for this bird,

Remarkable creatures! Bruce was thrilled with both the giraffe,

and the cougars, which we learned are often called either pumas or mountain lions.

You should have seen their tails--so long! Because we were there in the middle of the day, mostly they were resting, however, at one point the one whose face you see began licking the other one. So cute.

There were plenty of alligators including this albino alligator.

Too bad my striped shirt is reflected in the glass! In this space you've seen "white alligators" before, which if you'll recall have a blue eye. These had what you traditionally think of when you think albino--pink.

A gigantic rainstorm came along, passing as quickly as it came. Leaving, we moseyed home the long way, enjoying our time together and looking forward to returning to our comfortable home. Recently I received a thank you card for a lunch I prepared for my friend Cindy. I smiled when I read that she thought our home was not only lovely, but relaxing as well. Nice.

*a note to readers--please forgive any errors, I need to eat and NOW.