First, catch your alligator, being sure to wipe off any blood from your maimed body from spoiling the meat. Of course you can buy prepared cleaned alligator, cut into bite sized pieces, but where’s the adventure in that?*

Bring fat to about 360 degrees F.

Use whatever fish fry batter you like, home made or from a mix. Coat pieces and fry 2 to 3 minutes until they rise to the surface. Drain, season with salt and pepper and serve with whatever dipping sauce you like, or not.

* Seaview Stories does not endorse non professional Alligator hunting.  If you are interested in hunting alligator on your own, check with the Game and Wildlife Commission  for license rules and regulations regarding the  alligator hunting season,  endorsed locations and proper safety precautions. 

Agent Catfish always uses farmed or professionally harvested meat.   

From Edith L. Nelson

Daytona Beach, Florida

To Adm. H. Nelson

SSRN Seaview

Somewhere at sea

Re: Sweltering Summer

Dear Harry,

Having a wonderful time with Agent Catfish. She even served me fried gator nuggets and it was quite tasty, that is, until I learned it wasn’t farmed alligator like I’d thought, but caught by somebody she called Gator Man. Whereabouts? Gainesville.

So, I’m afraid that  Al E. Gator, Alley Gator, or just plain alligator lost it’s charm for me as I had visions of just what or even whom it may have eaten. Still, taste buds don’t lie. It was good.

Anyway, I don’t suppose you can blast a nuclear charge into the atmosphere to trigger some badly needed rain for Florida? Though we finally have some afternoon storms, the lightening starts even more fires than the  rain douses!

Some areas can’t even have fireworks for the 4^th of July! Boo hoo. And we were so looking forward to them.

We don’t want a hurricane, mind you, so make sure it’s just a small charge you send up in one of your missiles.

From Adm. H. Nelson

SSRN Seaview

Somewhere at sea

To Edith L. Nelson

Daytona Beach, Florida

Re: Sweltering Summer

My dear,

Lee tells me that  hunted alligator tastes truer to form than farmed, though he didn’t elaborate on why. Chip took the bait and insists that the next time we’re nearby he join this Gator Man on an alligator hunt.  Perhaps we can do a comparative study, though I’m not thrilled with the idea of Chip traipsing through some swamp just to catch some prehistoric dinner.

As for using Seaview as a rain maker, well, I’m afraid that  environmental issues precludes us from using our firepower to alter the prevailing weather patterns, whatever they may be. It’s a liability thing.  

Speaking of  fireworks, while we can’t plan to explode any aboard Seaview in celebration,  we can satisfy ourselves with the fact that there might be a few shorts in the system and somebody might press the wrong buttons again. Shhh, Don’t tell the Captain. He’s still mad at me as I won’t allow him or the rest of the crew to use the ballast tanks for swimming! (The Air Conditioning’s on the blink again.) I keep telling him that it’s one thing to inspect the tanks, repair them if needed, etc. but  quite another to use them for recreational purposes (according to governmental regs, swimming, even to cool down is 'fun' and then there's also  health endangerment such as exposure to stale seawater, creepy crawlies, seaweed, etc. etc. etc.)

From Edith L. Nelson

Daytona Beach Florida

To Adm. H. Nelson

SSRN Seaview

Somewhere at sea

Re: Sweltering Summer

Gee, Harry,

Since when is anything you do a liability  issue for Seaview?

And for Pete’s sake, let the boys cool down!  I sure wouldn’t mind seeing Lee all moist and curly and covered in bits of seaweed.

By the way, I’m checking with NASA to see if maybe they can do something about the weather. They’re not too cooperative but did say if you give the go ahead, theoretically, that coating the shuttle's fuel tanks with some kind of seeding agent to trigger some rain, they might be able to do so during this last shuttle blast off.  

From Adm. H. Nelson

SSRN Seaview

Somewhere at sea

To Edith L. Nelson

Daytona Beach, Florida

Re: Sweltering Summer

Darling,

YOU don’t have to smell a wet Lee continually crawling out of the ballast tanks,  I do!

Sorry, it’s a no go for seeding the atmosphere. Hurricane season doesn’t need any additional impetus.

Cookie plans on beans and franks for the 4^th, so Chip keeps snickering that it’ll be an explosive combination and for Lee to take us off of radio silence as it wouldn’t work anyway.

I had to veto their beloved caramalized popcorn balls, as the last time Cookie made the tasty morsels, not only was our equipment getting stuck from sticky fingers, Lee and Chip bandied the candied treats about like snowballs at each other, smearing themselves and the  bulkheads with dripping goo. Sometimes I really wonder about those two.

I’m thinking that due to the debilitating temperatures aboard, we may hove to along some beach and let everyone take a few days to rest under the shady palm trees and lounge about in the surf,  while the repairs continue, of course. Lee’s convinced me that I should join the beach party and grow a beard to prevent sunburn. Chip’s simply going to use a hat.

From Edith L. Nelson

Daytona Beach Florida

To Adm. H. Nelson

SSRN Seaview

Somewhere at sea

Re: Sweltering Summer

Well, if you’re growing a beard, make sure Lee and Chip do as well.Tell them it’ll be a ‘libaility thing’ if they don’t. Agent Catfish and I will moan and groan and pester you without ceasing- those boys are ravishing with five o’ clock shadow, no doubt even more so with full beards! You won’t look so bad yourself, Harry dear. Catfish says 'hi', and Happy 4th of July!

PS. Saving you some fried Alligator. Freezes well, did you know?