Waiting for Godot

There are people who come to the Viera Wetlands, pull their car to the side of the road, take out a chair and then just sit and wait.  I call these people “Waiting for Godot” photographers or birdwatchers.  They are waiting for that rare bird, like the Smooth-billed Ani that drew so much attention months ago, or a bird in flight, or eggs ready to hatch.

I am not that kind of photographer.  I don’t have the patience for it.  And, if you are familiar with the play Waiting for Godot—spoiler alert—he never shows.  I don’t have the patience or the energy to wait for something that may never happen.  Some people do and I respect that, even admire that.

But I challenge myself differently—and that is to find beauty and wonder anywhere and everywhere God leads me.  And so yes, I wind up just as amazed at a shell I find on the beach, worn and grooved as if it just fell off the potter’s wheel, as I am by a bobcat that appears suddenly at the edge of the trees.

Whether it be a bobcat sighting or a fox, an otter or an alligator, none of these moments have happened when I’ve gone looking for them.  But they all have happened because I expect something to happen every time I go out.

Lord, show me something amazing today, has been my favorite prayer.

And God doesn’t disappoint.

This morning I walked the beach, then came home, changed into sneakers and headed for the Wetlands.  I didn’t intend on walking very far at the Wetlands, just enough to take some pictures.

I was only about a hundred feet down the road when I heard splashing to my right and turned and saw an alligator writhing in the water.

“What have you got?” I said to him as I took out my camera and began snapping picture after picture.

He had a fish.

And boy was he proud. 

He held it in his mouth and began swimming right toward me.  “You going to show it to me?” I asked.

What a beauty.

And I didn’t have to wait for this moment to happen, I just needed to believe that at any time a moment like this could happen.  Such is life.

I must have taken thirty pictures of that alligator and then I turned off the camera and headed back to my car.  No need to walk any further.