Litchfield Alley 11'13

 " Litchfield Alley"

 Southern artists love to paint the heritage oak lined drives that are  called  "Alleys" (usually preceded by the name of a plantation).  I was cruising along  in early morning traffic, on my way  to deliver some paintings to the Seacoast Artists Gallery, when I saw something  that gives a whole new meaning to the term "Litchfield Alley out of the corner of my eye,  I noticed some movement where none should be.  I did  a swift scan  of the open lawn near the south entrance of the Litchfield Resort, then let out a  gasp. There was a young adult 6' alligator rising up from beside a massive oak, and it was beginning to  lumber toward  Hy-way 17.  Alligators are a protected species in South Carolina, but if she reached Hy-way 17,  protected species or not, she would be roadkill .  By this time I  had driven past the beast, so I continued  on to the north entrance into the Litchfield  Resort, then circled around behind the beast on the resort's driveway.  My husband jumped out of the car,  and dashed across the lawn to try to herd the animal away from Hyway 17 traffic.

Hunkered Down

 She  hunkered down low on the grass when he  approached, but soon got up and started moving toward the South entrance road.

Approaching the South Entrance

 Since  there was no place for her to hide in the open grass, the only option we had was to continue escorting her until she could find someplace more protected..  I used  my vehicle  and car horn  as a road block against traffic on the south entrance, while Bruce walked her across the street.  When last seen she had taken shelter in some dense shrubs on the business property just South of the Litchfield Resort.

Safely across the road at last.

Live long and prosper Litchfield Alley

You definitely made the trip to the gallery more exciting today.
The lesson I took home from today's trip is that sometimes it is not enough just to paint nature for posterity.  You have to get involved in actually saving it, if you want it to be there for future generations to relate to