It's Mardi Gras

It was her hands and feet - that most surprised me.
So human. So real. They - almost - told stories.

She appeared both terrified and sweet. She held so tight.
Clinging to her post as if her life depended on it.
Maybe - it did.

Today - I laugh.
It's Mardi Gras.

Maybe she's dressed in her favorite costume for the occasion?
Maybe she's that alligator I came to see...masquerading as something other? 
Maybe?

* * *

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum

How Sweet She Is

Whereas - in the northeast - we have arrived in winter. In the south - it is very much spring.

Trees are greening. Birds are singing. Flowers are beginning to show.

I expected alligators and snakes and other reptilian creatures who live within. I looked for them everywhere.
They remained still.
Quiet.
Hibernating.
Sleeping.

I never would have expected this.

How sweet she was. How tentative and timid. How beautiful.

Guarded and protected - she kept her three babies safe and distant from my camera's lens.

And I was reminded once again. Of nature's never-ending ability to re-store and re-new.

Somewhere - it's always spring.