Alligators and Old IPhones Prove Problematic

We're on day two of our lovely full-family Kiawah Island vacation, and I still haven't been able to take a good alligator picture for my readers.

It's not that I haven't seen any gators. Gator visibility isn't the problem here. The actual problem is my iPhone.

Notice the clarity of this yellow-petaled, short, long leafied plant. Basically, plants don't move and are easy to photograph. Gators, however, do and are a bit more difficult. (Note, if you will, my amazing botanical knowledge of Kiawah Island.) My iPhone doesn't take very good photos of things that move.

Plants, like this short, green leafied, pink flowery plant, don't shy away from people. I don't have to use my zoom function, which blurs everything to the point where it looks like a UFO. Or Bigfoot. Take your pick.

Thus far, I've had to use my zoom for all my gator pics. Note, in the photo above, Bigfoot peeking out of the water at me.

Also, because I'm utilizing an iPhone 3, I don't seem to have an autofocus feature available. That means I have a set distance I need to be in order for my pics to be in sharp focus. Notice, above, how well I shot this purple, short, feathery-fuzzy flowering plant with narrow leaves.

With all that being said, in order for me to get a good gator photo, I'm going to have to get up close and personal with one of the great reptiles. The distances I go for my awesome readers!

So keep reading Fuzzy, Black Dogs. I will soon be posting (hopefully) a spectacular photograph of a Kiawah Island alligator for my fans. Look for the post titled "High Point Man Harasses Alligator, Kicked Off Resort Island" or "High Point Man Eaten by Alligator."

Bumps Make Vacations Great!

Normally, during our yearly Kiawah Island vacations, something goes awry, amiss or just plain askew. This years trip, it seems, went exceedingly well. I even got along we'll with the rest of my family!

Don't get me wrong, though. Every good trip has its bumps, however minor.

Take the fishing, for example. My nephew caught several grunts, and I don't mean little kids. I caught bluefish, shark and a sting ray. Sadly, none of what was caught was cooked or eaten.

I also fished with my nephew in one of the ponds that litter the island. I caught tree branches, the bridge we were fishing on and no fish. I did, however, manage to hook an alligator.

This, incidentally, is the gator a mere moment before he attacked my fishing lure!

Go figure, right? Now, everyone knows that you're not supposed to mess with the gators. I didn't really mess with him, per se, but I certainly didn't think he'd take my fishing lure! He took two lures, in fact! I had to cut my line twice simply because I didn't think I stood much of a chance at landing a four foot gator.

And then there was the bike ride. Instead of being chased by the tide (like last year), this time around we were chased by a storm. One family member in particular felt certain we could outrun the storm. That prediction proved slightly erroneous.

As luck would have it, we found a large metal tunnel to keep us dry and safe while it lightninged and thundered. My son and I joined my father, older sister and nephew, who were already huddled inside! After five long minutes, my 15 year old decided to take his chances playing out in the rain.

The only other 'bump' would be the bike ride back in the driving rain. The fact that one member of our little group was grossly out of shape, whined, moaned and complained the rest of the way didn't make the ride any easier. But at least it gave me something to do!