I forgot to mention on the last blog entry about the Lodge mascot. He's not really official and not really invited on the property. He just shows up.
One afternoon I was still walking pretty good and wanted to look around outside the building. They have an outdoor patio, a flower garden memory walk, and a pond with a fountain in it around in the back. As I saw the pond and walked toward it I noticed it was fenced off. Even though there was a nice wide sidewalk I thought this was a good idea because we didn't need anyone falling in. This pond was in between the two story building and a swampy forest area to the back. As I stepped up on the sidewalk to walk around to the back of the building, the corner of my eye caught something move on the other side of the pond. I couldn't believe it. An alligator was sunning himself on the edge of the water! Well this town was the home of UF of course, so what did I expect. I'm not good on measurements but he was about 4 1/2 to 5 feet long. I kept walking (quietly) and noticed all the turtles were starting to swim toward me. This is really strange. Usually turtles will stay sleeping or go under water to hide. Then I looked down in the water next to me and the alligator was swimming along side of me! I kid you not! The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Fence or no fence this was really creeping me out! Remember all the old Tarzan movies when we were kids? The alligators slipping silently into the water? This is what came to mind. I was quickly double checking out the sturdiness of this chain link fence and looked for escape routes. It just struck me as weird about seven or eight turtles and an alligator all looking at me like I was dinner. I then realized someone had been feeding them and they thought I'd throw them something to chow down on. Sorry to disappoint them but I made haste back to the safety of the building.
Later I asked at the front desk about the alligator and they said they didn't put him in the pond. In fact they had recently had a much LARGER one relocated to another spot. With the location of the Lodge backing up to some wetlands, the gators just find a nice pond and make it their home. The management has a (very faded) sign saying it was illegal to feed or molest the alligators but you could barely read it. I believe some of the residents were feeding the ducks, turtles and gator just for fun. I don't think anyone was molesting the alligator because he looked pretty healthy to me! And I had no intentions of getting any closer to this reptile. I grew up in the country and I have a major respect for them! I just give them plenty of space.
After the pond adventure I did like to go in the Memory Garden. This was a lovely courtyard off the screened-in side patio. It had lots of flowers and small trees. There was a winding sidewalk that had a gazebo at the far end. People had donated benches, small statues and plaques in memory of their late loved ones. This was a beautiful garden and I liked to visit it often. One plaque I liked, a patient had dedicated to her best friend. Her cat named Bob! Me being a cat lover found this made me smile everytime I saw it.
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