The Dragon King

No Sunday drive with my Shotgun Rider in tow is complete without a visit to check on my Popeye Gator. Even though I didn't spot him as I drove past his haunt to park, I knew he was there as Hazel lifted her muzzle in a sweeping test of the wind. I asked her if she smelled Gator and she locked eyeballs with me for only a second as she retreated to the backseat of the truck opposite the water. I can always count on my girl's nose to know...

I always seem to forget the impact of the sheer bulk of this guy. My breath catches in my throat every single time I see him... Oh how I dread when my boy finally succumbs to this decreasing light and temperature to retreat into brumation for the upcoming winter months. Just being able to gaze upon the craggy countenance of this Dragon King fills me with awe and hope. He and his kind have survived so many pitfalls over time immemorial - over 250 million years. It's actually unfathomable that a creature who emerged alive after an Ice Age that decimated the Dinosaurs is lying in wait in basically the same form right here before my very eyes today. I somehow gain strength by his very presence and I feel a bit lost when he isn't there for me to look upon. We've been through a lot, this Gator and I, over the past almost 2 decades I have been graced by his visitations. He is an ancient Warrior and he knows many of my secrets. He listened silently to so many conversations I had daily with my Dad on my way home from work from Wilmington. He aided in my decompression from a fast paced OR environment before I got home to my responsibilities at home. I always gravitate to this very spot when life gets to be too much. He isn't just any Gator. He's my Popeye Gator, my Big Boy, my Dragon King and Old Warrior but he knows nothing of this. All he knows is survival and true instincts that have served him well over his lifetime. My only hope is that once he does disappear from my view down into mud that he will again emerge this spring full of Vigor and Glory, dispelling my fears of his mortality. I know that one day I will have to face that inevitability but until then I will stand on this threshold fervently hoping to see him one more time. Thank you for listening...

Till Later My Popeye Gator...