Funny . . . every time I think about that day, this song by Vicki Lawrence . . . from 1973 . . . always pops into my head. It's unrelated to my story . . . especially the part about someone getting shot. Nobody got shot that morning on the Rainbow River!
Now I did shoot a dog with a crossbow one time down there . . . blunt tipped arrow . . . don't worry, the dog didn't die.
But that's another story!
It was April Fool's Day . . . probably about 1987. I was renting a house that was located on one of the most beautiful properties I'd ever seen . . . on the Rainbow River . . . just outside of Dunnellon, Florida. Short river . . . 6 miles long . . . but crystal clear with a steady temperature of 72 degrees all year.
Yeah, the water was cold during the sweltering 98 degree, 100% humid days . . .
. . . with dry winter temps in the 40's and 50's, however, it seemed warm.
(that fact will become important)
Since the house was outside of the city, there was no city water . . . there was a well and a septic tank. Yes, thankfully there was indoor plumbing as the water was pumped out of the well by an electric pump that fed water tank in the house. What that meant, however . . .
I was in the shower that morning getting ready to go to work. I'd just put shampoo in my hair and had gotten a really good lather when the water stopped . . . STOPPED! My eyes were closed to keep the shampoo out, so I didn't notice that the lights were out too. Groping for a washcloth to wipe my eyes, I turned the water off and then back on again . . . just in case. No luck! Wrapping a towel around me, I walked out to call a friend who I knew liked to play pranks . . . especially on April Fool's Day . . . asked him if he turned the water off. He said no, but if the electricity was out, then the water pump wouldn't run.
Aha . . . now what?!?!? I had soap in my hair, and I wasn't done with my shower!!!
Well, it was April . . . and April is a little chilly in Florida . . . I could, I figured, just finish up bathing in the river. After all, I'd bathed in open water before while on camping trips . . . no big deal. I wasn't even thinking about dangers lurking in the waters . . . the thought of alligators never once crossed my mind! It was early morning too . . . who would possibly be out on the river at this hour?! My neighbors certainly wouldn't be up . . . besides they couldn't see my part of the river from their houses anyway!
So, off I went . . . towel wrapped around me to use when I finished. I dropped the towel on the sea wall and dunked myself under the water to rinse . . .
. . . and that's when I heard it . . .
. . . the theme song from Jaws . . . in my head!!
I never saw an alligator, but in that split second, with that horrifying tune in my head, I just KNEW a giant one was approaching. In the next second I was in the house . . . trying to catch my breath . . . stop the flow of adrenaline . . . realizing I'd left my towel on the sea wall! I peeked out of the window to make sure I hadn't actually been chased by a gator . . . just in time to see the fishing boat drift lazily by my dock . . . a man looking at the house . . . laughing.
I thought about calling in sick that day, but I didn't . . . horrified as I was from the morning's event. Now that I look back on that day, it seems really funny . . .
. . . it was not funny back in 1987.
"Everything you want is on the other side of fear."
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