I went to a department
store the other day and caught Holiday Song
Syndrome. Now I’ve got turtle doves, calling
birds, and French hens on my mind, on my mind, on
my mind.
You remember this song,
don’t you? Twelve drummers drumming, eleven
pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies
dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans
a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings,
four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle
doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. Repeat 12
times.
All these birds and
whatnots are accompanied by a catchy tune and I
can live with it for a time but, really, those
lords leaping and maids milking get old fast. Vic
said maybe it would help if I substituted new
images. Get rid of those pipers piping and pear
tree partridges, he said, and substitute some of
the birds and sea-life we get to watch here in
subtropical Southwest Florida. We don’t have maids
a-milking, but we have manatees, which are
mammals. We don’t have lords a-leaping, but our
dolphins leap. All this you can see for yourself
while cruising the placid backsides of our barrier
islands like Sanibel, Captiva, Useppa, Boca Grande
and Cabbage Key.
So, here we go, with my
apologies to the Twelve Days of Christmas song. I
call it the “Twelve Days of a Southwest Florida
Cruise.” You can hum this to the natural rhythms
in the air, like engines humming, sails slapping,
halyards clanking, and waves a-lapping.
On the first day of cruising my true love gave to
me
A pelican in a mangrove tree.
On the second day of cruising my
true love gave to me
Two turtles from the sea.
On the third day of
cruising my true love gave to me
Three manatees.
On the fourth day of
cruising my true love gave to me
Four frigatebirds.
On the
fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
Five calling loons.
On
the sixth day of cruising my true love gave to me
Six cormorants swimming.
On the seventh day of
cruising my true love gave to me
Seven herons prancing.
On the eighth day of
cruising my true love gave to me
Eight rays a-flying.
On the ninth day of
cruising my true love gave to me
Nine skimmers skimming.
On the tenth day of
cruising my true love gave to me
Ten dolphins leaping.
On the eleventh day of
cruising my true love gave to me
Eleven spoonbills spooning
On
the twelfth day of
cruising my true love gave to me
Twelve egrets posing.
Truth in advertising
prompts me to say that we don’t really have
calling loons in Florida. Canada sends us her
loons for the winter, and they thrive on our warm
weather and saltwater baitfish, but I’ve never
heard these snowbirds make their haunting calls
here in Florida. In winter Canada also sends us
white pelicans, which are much larger than our
brown pelicans. My other tilt toward poetic
license has to do with the frigatebirds, AKA
man-o-war bird. We see them in summer but rarely
in winter.
Still, anytime of the
year, cruising Southwest Florida’s inland passage
gives visitors an amazing panorama of sea life and
bird life in their natural environment.
Witnesses a-welcome.
