A surge of gratitude
filled me moments later as heading towards me was the couple who had
been shelling. As we crossed paths, I said, "Hi, my husband told me I
could walk around this island, but I almost stepped on top of a huge
gator around the bend and I am wondering now, if my husband of twenty
years was trying to off me!"
The wife laughed as she handed me a bottle of water and the man replied, "Well, it certainly could have for that's a ten foot gator that lives in the cove and this island is over five miles long. Where did you begin walking from?"
"Directly from the opposite end!"
"The only way back is the way you came, there is no way you can walk all around this island."
The
bottle of water revived me and as I walked back the way I came, I
encountered my violent side. I was angry with myself for not turning
back as soon as I realized I was all alone, but then my rage turned on
my husband for telling me I could walk around an island that was five
miles one way and a gator habitat on the other. As I was fuming I spied
my husband's boat and three people waving at me.
I lunged into the surf and swam towards them, still holding onto the empty water bottle, but I was too weak to fight the surf and I let go of it just before I reached the boat and crawled up the ladder. I was too weak to move anything but my mouth and exploded, "John, you could have f-----g killed me by alligator!"
He yelled back, "Get in the damn boat before you kill us all" just as a wave pushed me over and filled the bottom of our boat.
I was absolutely clueless as to the danger I had put us all in and demanded that John go back so I could fetch the empty water bottle. He gunned the motor, shook his head and shouted, "This water is too rough and we could flip over!"
Within a few minutes we were out in calmer seas and John stopped the boat and calls, "Time out. We all tried to signal to you to stop swimming and get back to shore. I needed to pick you up at the end of the island where the water was calm."
"Calm my ass! I nearly stepped on top of a ten foot gator in a mangrove cove! Why did you tell me I could walk around this island?"
"I meant, walk around where we were at. What you didn't know was that I turned back when I realized that the honeymoon couple had no idea what they were doing when they dropped anchor and they needed a lot of help getting their boat back out. By the way, you were really lucky you didn't encounter the herd of wild hogs-especially the boars- that inhabit Cayo Costa."
I was more than lucky and I also learned that no matter how hard I try to maintain a nonviolent attitude towards everyone, that the Hitler within me will always do battle with the Christ.
As I want Jesus to win the war within, I swiftly apologized for losing my temper and I began to wonder what good could come of such an event; for experience is not just what happens to you- but what you do with it.
A few days later as I drove home doing 80mph on I-75 with the BOSE blasting in my Infiniti G35, I was forced to a sudden and complete halt just as Jimi Hendrix wailed;
Well, I stand up next to a mountain, and I chop it down with the edge of my hand. Well, I pick up all the pieces and make an island; might even raise a little sand" If I don't meet you no more in this world then I'll meet you on the next one...
The wife laughed as she handed me a bottle of water and the man replied, "Well, it certainly could have for that's a ten foot gator that lives in the cove and this island is over five miles long. Where did you begin walking from?"
"Directly from the opposite end!"
"The only way back is the way you came, there is no way you can walk all around this island."
I lunged into the surf and swam towards them, still holding onto the empty water bottle, but I was too weak to fight the surf and I let go of it just before I reached the boat and crawled up the ladder. I was too weak to move anything but my mouth and exploded, "John, you could have f-----g killed me by alligator!"
He yelled back, "Get in the damn boat before you kill us all" just as a wave pushed me over and filled the bottom of our boat.
I was absolutely clueless as to the danger I had put us all in and demanded that John go back so I could fetch the empty water bottle. He gunned the motor, shook his head and shouted, "This water is too rough and we could flip over!"
Within a few minutes we were out in calmer seas and John stopped the boat and calls, "Time out. We all tried to signal to you to stop swimming and get back to shore. I needed to pick you up at the end of the island where the water was calm."
"Calm my ass! I nearly stepped on top of a ten foot gator in a mangrove cove! Why did you tell me I could walk around this island?"
"I meant, walk around where we were at. What you didn't know was that I turned back when I realized that the honeymoon couple had no idea what they were doing when they dropped anchor and they needed a lot of help getting their boat back out. By the way, you were really lucky you didn't encounter the herd of wild hogs-especially the boars- that inhabit Cayo Costa."
I was more than lucky and I also learned that no matter how hard I try to maintain a nonviolent attitude towards everyone, that the Hitler within me will always do battle with the Christ.
As I want Jesus to win the war within, I swiftly apologized for losing my temper and I began to wonder what good could come of such an event; for experience is not just what happens to you- but what you do with it.
A few days later as I drove home doing 80mph on I-75 with the BOSE blasting in my Infiniti G35, I was forced to a sudden and complete halt just as Jimi Hendrix wailed;
Well, I stand up next to a mountain, and I chop it down with the edge of my hand. Well, I pick up all the pieces and make an island; might even raise a little sand" If I don't meet you no more in this world then I'll meet you on the next one...
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