Toren and I went on a hike one day near Sarasota. Toren’s imagination is getting better and he was pretending we were surrounded by monsters as I carried him through the backwoods. I, on the other hand, was afraid of actual animals that might attack us, since not many people hike here in Florida and we’re usually quite far from home. I’m most worried about alligators, as they can be in any body of water.
Anyway, as we were hiking along chatting, there was a sudden, very loud rustling in the brush right next to the trail. Worried it was an alligator, I immediately jumped backwards and, without thinking about it, cursed under my breath, “Sh*t!” Toren, who was riding on my back, was probably doubly scared – by the sound and my sudden motion. I felt his little hand reach around to my left arm, grab it, squeeze, and then I heard him say, “Sh*t!”
Turns out it was just an armadillo. Those things crash through the brush like tanks! We didn’t get footage of the one that scared us, but we ran into another later who was just as interested in us as we were of him:
FYI, we’ve since taught Toren to say, “Oh man!” instead of what he said on the hike.
