Dream: Alligator in Catch Basin

I'm taking a brief stroll in my yard before suppertime. I walk down the hill and I notice that the grassy ground is squishy, water-logged from all the rain from Irene and the storm that followed. I look to my right to see how high the water is in the catch basin. But it doesn't seem to be that much higher than usual.

Now I'm walking back, having walked past the catch basin. It's about 100 yards away to my left. There is some creature in the water. A large creature. It resolves into a fully-grown alligator. But there is also a man there with a leash. Apparently the alligator is his. I hear two people talking behind me. They are walking toward me, so I hold up my hand to get them to warn them and get them to slow down and turn around. I know them, so I say high. They catch up to me.

An aircraft flies low overhead. Then it slows and circles around. I wonder if the pilot is looking for the alligator. Now it is hovering nearby.

We walk on together and come to a clearing. The pilot of the aircraft is there, and he is, indeed, searching for the alligator. One of the people that were walking is with the nearby Nature Center. She is wearing shoes with pointy heels -- most inappropriate for the walk she was taking.

Before us is a bridge to Hartford, which we can take to get back. We want to walk forward, but I suddenly realize that it's a bridge of water! I'm not interested in swimming across, so I hold back.