"Yuk! you expect us to be sleek, healthy and pristine when we have to preen in this smelly, black stuff? Have we got news for you! Get us photo I.D.'s and book us on the next flight south," barked Caesar.
"Oh Caesar, you are such an alarmist," cooed Cleotoo. "Am not"! "Are too!" "AM NOT, you just wait until it is –5 degrees and you resemble a giant snow-cone and you try to defrost in this filthy water. You'll look like fudge ripple."
Ignoring that dire prediction, Cleotoo wandered off in search of pond grasses. She knew Caesar's fears were real, this would be a hectic winter but at least their four capable cygnets were now safely away and leading the good life down the swan super highway, the Huron River.
|
Caesar and Cleo molting. |
AN INTERVIEW WITH CAESAR
Having spent 42 years in the company of Cygnus olor, I feel qualified to interpret their language and so, while the venerable Caesar was stuffing his beak one brisk winter day,
I chanced to ask, "To what do you attribute your longevity?"
After several chomps and slurps, the aged avian thoughtfully replied: "I guess I can say it is what I have not done rather than what I have done that accounts for my endurance. I do not smoke or drink spirits, or play around (except for a frisky fling each spring), nor do I bungie jump, drag race, sky dive or engage in extreme skiing. I do skate a bit and that is why I have a gimpy right leg and I must admit that I do not let food pass me by, so I'm what you'd call a plump bird. However, being overweight does have its upside-I'll never break my neck flying!”
As long as someone brought up my favorite subject, food, please thank my human benefactors, Johanna Becker, Lisa and Ted DeParry, Elinor and Bob Ferguson, Marv and Audrey Johnson, Cathy and Jim Leonard, Carol and Bill McGibbon, Ev and Nels Navarre, John Agno and Karen Mikus and Marge Shannon for keeping Cleotoo and me comfortably fed during the dark days of winter. With their kindness and by avoiding all of the aforementioned risky habits, I may live another 32 years.
Would someone please pass the bread?
