Conquering a Fear

This past weekend, Dallas and I decided on Friday afternoon to pack up and go camping. I'm not the super spontaneous type on my own, but Dallas keeps me on my toes and I'm thankful that he does! Of course, it appears that most of Houston had the same idea that we had, because most of the parks had no available camp sites left. The only one we found anywhere close to here was Brazos Bend State Park. Now, it is a great park, but I tried very hard to find something else...anything else. Why? The park is known as "The home of the American Alligator".

Every since I was little I have had a serious fear of alligators, even though I had never seen one in person. It all started with an episode of growing pains where Mike and one of his mischievous friends made this home video about an alligator that came through plumbing in your house and ate you in the bath tub. I'm not sure what the plot was exactly, but all I remember is staring at the drain while taking my showers for years after that! This anxiety about alligators wasn't helped along by the Discover channel highlights of 15 ft. alligators leaping from the water and taking down a deer or something of that sort.

So, in my mind, alligators are killers through and through. They would like nothing more than to take my arm off and then come back for the rest years later. Some of them might even just finish me off in one gulp. While I was really excited about hanging out, and relaxing with Dallas, these thoughts were lingering in the back of my mind.

He basically had to drag me out to the lake the first night, and though it was calm and no predators in sight, I was sure that there was something evil lurking close by. I decided the next day that I would try again, maybe even take the hike around the lake. I'm glad I did. By the end of the day, we had seen over 20 alligators of all sizes. We even saw this guy about 10 ft away from us on the shore. He is about 7 or 8 feet long.




In the end, they weren't as scary as I had always imagined them to be. In fact, the majority of them just sat completely still and didn't seem to care that we were there. I'm not saying I'm going to swim with them anytime soon or try to befriend one, but at least I know they won't be hunting me next time I'm at a city park pond!

Most importantly, Dallas and I had a great time! (And the Baby Bump and Ranger) I wished we could stay longer! It's so nice to just slow down and enjoy the day going by.