
I am excited about the start of a new year and I plan to have 2025 be my best year yet for fresh air and exercise. Yes, you are still reading FINNICKY. Although this reminds me of past New Year resolutions, I am ready to give the great outdoors my all. January can be a very athletic month.
When I was in Florida in addition to the beach, I satisfied my new year sports enthusiasm at the State Park. For $15 I was able to rent a bike and pedal through endless acres of pristine wilderness. Occasionally, I would spot a deer and deliberately I avoided the alligators. No reptile was going to spoil my day in nature. Unfortunately, alligators are everywhere because Florida is… well – it’s swampy. This Park also offered a paddle boat ride on a small lake but because of the you-know-what, I never went. The paddle boat was called The Gator Gal.
Staying far from the lake I was able to bike for miles with a smile. I thought about a cute cat video. The video showed a boat ramp with a gator’s reptilian head up out of the water, his body submerged. At the edge of the ramp and sitting directly in front of the alligator’s nose was a cat. The cat and gator were motionless until the cat slowly raised its paw and hissed. The gator backed down into the water.
I enjoyed bike riding in the State Park because of the vast expanse of untouched land. The open country reminded me of past bike adventures in Arizona, where I would occasionally see a sign: CAUTION -WILD HORSES. Parks do a wonderful job of alerting us to wildlife. What visitor to Yellowstone is surprised by the famous DON’T FEED THE BEARS signs. (Who would feed a bear?)
One January, while ignoring the alligators, breathing the fresh air, and admiring the view, something happened. It was an “Oh No ”moment. La de da…happy me biking through the wilderness. Wait! What’s this! (I swerve my bike to avoid crashing into a sign) WARNING - VULTURES MAY CAUSE DAMAGE TO VEHICLES.What? Vultures? Those big birds that I see everywhere are VULTURES? Where am I? Hell?
“Get a grip, Miss Pat, enjoy the trees, the vast expanse of pristine land unhindered by man’s overreaching encroachment into God’s creation. Calm down, take a deep breath. Recite a calming poem. Maybe the vultures are here to feast on dead alligators. Now, is that better? - Where’d she go?”
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