Uncle Gator's Kiawah Adventures

Once again, 6 finds himself, contemplating life’s events. As one gazes around the neighborhood, one can’t help but reminisce about the days of the Great Pumpkin. Among the many thoughts that cross 6’s mind is the mystery of the Great Pumpkin. 6 realizes that he is in the minority on this one, but he is still patiently awaiting the return of the Great Pumpkin. As we all know, the legend of the Great Pumpkin dates back 50 or 60 years. It’s quite simple: the Great Pumpkin emerges from the pumpkin patch and brings gifts to those who have faith and believe. It’s a straightforward concept, isn’t it? Well, call it what you want, but 6 believes in the Great Pumpkin. Ask when he will come, Wellllll  6 doesn’t know the time or place, but he knows he is coming. Humm, pumpkins, how about apples? Imagine a bobbing for apples station at a local Halloween party today. Don’t think so! Bobbing for apples was one of 6’s favorite fall activities. It’s a simple game: drag a tub out of the woods, f...

  There is a consistent thing that one can count on when one goes on FFV…. Temps in the 90’s with humidity to match. Is there any form of logic, that one could derive that would explain why would anyone in their right mind, would afford themselves a week of vacation, by going to a place where interventions are required to see clearly.              Let us start with any normal 24-hour period on FVV, or in other words a day in the life of 6 . Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head, stumble around searching  for some short pants and a shirt, grab the beach cam, shades and trusty Pitt ball cap. Quietly close the front door, then getting hit in the face with air that is so thick one could cut it with a knife. Shades instantly obscured, can’t see a darn thing, stumble around looking for 6’s thongs (guess that is aging me, they are now called flipflops… WELLLL excuse me!) looking up noticed 6 was l...

Over time, situations change but then again, do they? One time back in the day, a young 6 was sitting on the beach, contemplating life, 6 noticed a nice young couple walking down the boardwalk and entering the beach. The young man sat down on the boardwalk between the dunes in an attempt to reduce the wind, and fired up! They we dressed in cutoff jeans, and matching tie-dyed shirts with a Peace sign, the young man had his hair pulled back in a pony tail, with his tattered leather cowboy hat. They also both had matching light blue tinted Windsor glasses. As they passed the doobie, back and forth to each other while drinking a nice cup of coffee. They approached us saying Peace, and asking if we would like a hit of their doobie, or Ripple (old time Rex) …..  Fast forward to this year! As one may expect, once again 6 was sitting on the beach, this time with 7 & 8. Absent, was the rest of the vacationers, for there happened to be a few raindrops, accompanied by a breathtaking light...

No matter how you picture yourself: on boat on a river, a shrimp boat in an ocean, a frog on a lily pad, or even a slug in a beach chair, there comes a time where the reality of life comes into focus. One wakes up every morning performs the same routine, from getting ready to go to perform a vocation for success or sustainment of status, does it really matter? Over those long hard days does anything really change? We go from a point of having the Lion (tiger) by the tail, to the Lion having our tail, to pondering the Lion? The reality is truly understanding your Lion. The path is long and winding, but if one understands the lion in their being, somehow the road becomes straightforward and controllable. Take time to understand, and one will smile again. After all, the sun is up the sky is blue and it is beautiful, and so are you! Then the bus will come and take you away. Nobody told 6 here would be days like these, Stange days indeed          ...

  As 6 sits back and watches the sun fall behind him, as the waves continue to break as the sand on the beach slowly cools after a long day at the beach. There is one thing that is very noticeable, may people be frolicking on the beach all decked out in red white and blue garb. Yes, you guessed it, it is 4 th  of July eve! You know 6 is wondering what those people are going to ware on the 4 th , if they all have red white and blue on today? Something tells me they might have to give out clothes pins at Night Harron Park for the fireworks on the 4 th ! 6 has been involved in conversations with people who can recall events from when the were 2-3 years old, and 6 says ‘Hog wash” with 6’s superior astuteness, can only remember back to approximately 6 years of age….Hummmm does that mean 1 can remember back to age 1? Interesting thought to ponder? That means 61,62 and 63, will not have any memories for another couple of decades! Anyway, 6 can remember a July 4 th  from decades ...

There is one thing 6 resolutely believes, that there is no one wants to admit to their age. That makes no sense, for with age comes maturity and wisdom. In most cultures age, represents respect, in our culture age represents a drain on society. Back in the day, when 6 was a growing fella, it was rumored that with age came astuteness, so one listened to those little nuggets spewed by our elders. What ever happened to that?  Early one Saturday morning, 5 and 6 stuffed our belongings, behind the front seats of the 1960’s something Volkswagen Karmin Gia! Our next stop, other than for gas, was the legendary Atlantic City NJ, or for the younger ones of us… the Jersey shore! Somehow 5 was able to reserve some accommodations for the two of us purportedly adjacent to the beach. Before one know it, “low and Behold” one could see the Atlantic Ocean off in the distance, Oh what a feeling! We pulled off of the highway into a visitors’ center, where we promptly picked up a free map of the city, ...

The other day, while 6 was “out and about” at the local pool, it became painfully obvious that the same classic techniques would need to be deployed to find a place to sit these old bones. Yes, 6 knows that this is a recognizable antidote, butttttt, the pool offers a few new challenges. First the differences; no sand, no  Shibumi’s  (but then again that might be an idea, given  Shibumi  new product line), no tide changes, no waves. Now the similarities; “more people than one can shake a stick at”, burning your feet on the concrete deck, just like on the sand, people using the age-old trick of putting a towel on a couple of chairs under the umbrella, and leaving (just like a dog marking their space), and finally the best of all leaving their trash. 6 spotted two empty chairs for the 4 of us to share. After a couple of hours, 6 was able to abscond, a couple chairs and an umbrella. As one may expect, just like on the beach, people are people, and just like society only ...

The other day while 6 was sitting on his front porch, in his trusty rocking chair, jug of moonshine at 6’s side, dreaming 6’s life away, a profound thought entered 6’d mind! It’s almost time for PVV and FFV. The flowers are in full bloom, the trees have their leaves, the grass is growing, the pollen is covering everything as if we a light coating of snow! To say it simply, spring has sprung!  Ok let’s come back to reality, a reminder alarm from 6’s trusty cell phone alerted 6 that it was time to look for a place to stay on the beach! So why don’t we focus on summer at the beach!  The other day 622 and 6 were sitting down eating our lunch will watching a classic episode of  Bluey  guess where they were going, yes to the beach for their holiday for those who are interested it was Bluey Season 1 Episode 26 “Bluey’s sunny adventure”. Instead of all the non-Heeler fans asking what the heck does this have to with anything! Welllll…4….., 6 was remined that the bea...

Back to the old sayings, “If someone jumped off of a bridge, would you?” To be very honest, depending on how obstinate, 6 was being would determine the answer to that question. But then again, since 6 was such a perfect child, no one ever had to use that saying on him, but if they did, what would have 6 done?  Peer pressure was the genesis of that old saying.  Basically, it is challenging blind conformity, should one follow the crowd with-out critically thinking the action. The sad reality, is the concept of critical thinking, is as common as a Waterspout on the beach at Kiawah! Yes, it does happen, when 6 is out fishing with 5, 52, and 8, how often does that happen?  What is the reason for the lack of critical thinking? In a way it is very simple, we no longer need to be taught that skill, because all we need to do is ask the screen! The screen will magically give you any answer to any action you may have to take, how simple, you don’t have to bother to use any...

6 knows that he thinks that he is different from all the rest, so don’t break his bubble. Take a simple trip to the grocery store or a trip to FFV or PVV, a keen observer, will see the same things on any excursion, so in reality it really doesn’t matter.  Once upon a time, in an airport far far away, a young man sits patiently waiting for his flight to paradise. As he sat there on his tuffet, eating his egg McMuffin and drinking his coffee, he noticed all around him people everywhere heads down focusing on a small screen that they held in their hands. For what could this be, when the nice lady called for the boarding of the flight, they all stood up and formed a line, while keeping that intense focus on those screens. Finally, every passenger was comfortably seated, but still the same, heads were all down looking at those screens. The Flight attendant told us that it was time to take off so please put down your electronic devices, you will never guess what happened, no one heard, s...

Once again 6 was sitting on the front porch, taking advantage of Superior Intelligence (SI) contemplating the meaning of life, and “low and behold” the grey matter remembered a book that 6 read way back in the dark ages. The message was simple, when one is born, one has nothing but family, when one departs this world, one has nothing but family. ‘You can’t take it with you”  In the early 1980’s, 6 by chance, was doing some window shopping on  Rodeo Drive , and just happened to drop in on the  Louis Vuitton  store. In the back of the store (searching for a bargain) 6 noticed the most opulent item 6 has ever laid his eyes on, a  Louis Vuitton golf bag , for the low-low price of $8,500.  As a side note, 6 just looked up the current price, they still make them, but now they sell for a paltry $23,400! In retrospect, 6 should have got himself a couple of those bags! Moving to this century, one Saturday morning, 6 just purchased a large coffee from  Dunk...

As 6 sits and watches the world go round and round, he can’t help but contemplate all of those old adages. Like, “what goes around comes around”, “for whatever one sows, that he will also reap”, “can’t put lipstick on a pig”, “you can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear”. “Nothing is said that has not been said before” “There is nothing new under the sun” or “History repeats itself”. They all have their roots embedded in past centuries, but their meanings will hold for future generations. All one can conclude is those old fellas like Aristotle/Socrates and Plato, really must have been sitting around and watching the world go round!  Simple sayings as well as simple traditions, “warm an old man’s heart”, and 6 (an old man) knows all-you-all have an aversion to tradition. It really doesn’t matter if you respect or distain tradition, you must face reality, each of our lives are “Chucked Full” of TRADITION.  Here we go again; another long-winded exposition about the importan...