Freedom Interrupted

Freedom Interrupted
Late July of 2004- before Hurricane Charley in Punta Gorda, Florida...our new home...

Monday, October 7, 2013

Gators n Tales


In the Interest of Safety ...
... apply
Duct Tape 


... not your everyday household pet ... 


The Reward

I love the outdoors, and although the critters keep me in a constant state of almost panic, I thrive on seeing them in their own environment. An afternoon of kayaking after more than 7 years since our last adventure in a canoe, left me realizing we are NOT yet too old , and it is soothing therapy to a weary soul when the everyday insanity of this life beats us down. 
An inexpensive way to get closer to my mate, (relying on each other to simultaneously paddle forward and with control, steer, and balance this vessel),  teaches a lot more, than a costly counseling session series. 



KAYAKS 

Kayaking Shell Creek  http://www.charlottecountyfl.com/communityservices/ParkPages/hathaway.asp
offers inland waterways adventures and photo ops in the peaceful natural habitat of Florida.




Kayak Rentals are a great way to test your skills and abilities for endurance, while comfortably exploring the wonderful "Old Florida" in your area. We rented from 
 http://itstimekayakandcanoe.com/  spontaneously last week and they were very accommodating! 


KUDZO

Kudzo covers the native plants along the banks, providing interesting "natural sculptures". Although it is considered an invasive species,   http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/parks/kudzu.html , it does add visual treats to the journey.  And here is some food for thought on this plant, 



The photo to the left kind of  made me think of the elaborately sculpted images in theme parks.


In the photo below... what is not obvious... is that less than 10 feet off the stern of our kayak lay a very patient, but soon to be aggravated by our presence, 4' gator resting on the grass. Having seen him on the way upstream, we were surprised to find him still there an hour later when we floated back, and decided it was a photo moment. After a few minutes of video of him, I turned to take a few still shots of the kudzo on the other bank, and shortly thereafter the sunbather loudly splashed back into the creek making sure we understood his frustration of our intrusion. Yes, he got MY attention! 

Over 6'  or ... Larger than Life...


We saw this fellow from quite a distance away and that gave plenty of video and still photo time. To our surprise.. he never left his beach as we slowly approached and paddled past, a bit cautiously I might add. The reflection in the creek provided a pretty cool illusion here.



Justice In the Images

As with most of our adventures in nature, the images we bring back in video or photos just don't seem to do justice to the beauty of what we saw. Suffices to say, get out there and see your surrounding natural beauty and environment for yourself. 






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