I'VE MISPLACED MY GATOR

In 1958 I tasted the beauty of Florida for the first time. We went to Daytona Beach and Saint Augustine and stopped at roadside motels along the way. Of course, they had to have a pool, I begged.

I remember the sunburn my Mom got, the ocean and its high and low tides, the Spanish moss hanging from the trees, the biggest hamburger I'd ever seen, and the stuffed alligators we brought home.

At that time, you could purchase stuffed gators in a variety of sizes.They were the real deal with actual alligator skin, head, teeth, tail, etc; only with the guts removed. Mine was maybe a two-footer, but I think we bought a few more; some bigger, some smaller. It was cool just to look at. His little teeth were exposed. To achieve that effect they had piched the mouth and tucked the lips. Somewhere he lost a foot and once in awhile some sawdust would fall out of him. But now I've misplaced him. He might be a Midwestern gator or a desert gator, who knows?

My buddy, Russ went to Florida about six years later than I. He brought back a real alligator, also about two feet long, but skinnier than my stuffed one. He kept it in a big tub in his basement and fed him raw hamburger. He brought it back for his girlfriend/ now wife, but her parents wouldn't let her keep him. So Russ did. He tied a string on it one day and took it to a pond just off Brownsville Road by Bethel School.

As Russ was preoccupied with fishing, his gator wanted freedom, broke the string and disappeared. He was misplaced, too. Russ searched long and hard over a period of a week or so. No luck.

So if he should appear near the school or by King Barbecoa, just get out of his way. You can't call him by name, since Russ never gave him one. All he wants is some raw hamburger.