THE IMPORTANCE OF THE Surface
March 11, 2012
I decided to work on the 80 feet of toe rail today, the third day in a row. To get to the side away from the finger pier, I splashed the dinghy and was into the exercise of removing the last of the Honey Teak. It was a nice afternoon to do the work and I did not look around for several minutes at a time. Bear was in the cockpit making her Sunday family calls. Scurv was enjoying his new found freedom strolling the decks. Perhaps that contributed to the next event. I sensed a presence nearby and looked down from the dink into the eyes of Mikey, the gator. He was submerged except for eyes and nostrils not three feet away. I am not sure if he wanted to get in the dink with me or just hoping for Scurv to miss a step. Either way, at the moment of consciousness of his presence, it was like walking down a dark hallway and feeling something tapping on the back. After that, old Mikey and I kept an eye on each other. As quickly as he appeared, he was gone. Scurv was at the rail paying close attention and not barking. Methinks the two of them exchanged subliminal thoughts and Scurv, for the first time, realized he is not at the top of the food chain. It is a fact that humans are no longer at the top of the food chain once they are below surface. Things change drastically at the water line.