This is a repeat of a previous post to help you catch up on Elroy’s story from last week. I’ll be posting two/three more episodes before continuing with our hero’s tale–Ms P 
OK, y’all Shakespearean aficionados out there—I’ll bet ya dinnint think that we birds know our classics, too? Hein? Hein? Hein? I’ll bet ya dinnint know that. Well, I’m here to tell the story of Apple and Mac the two Great Blue heron lovers (or Desdemona and Othello as we call ‘em now in the rookery). Ms P helped me with the words so here we go with one of the most tragic stories in all the history of theatre.
Our setting is the Rookery hidden deep in the Bald Cypress Forest where very few humans can gain entrance. These ancient trees are covered in Spanish moss to keep hunters at bay:
Mac and Apple were happy Great Blue herons who had the run of miles and miles of ponds and woods where wild pigs, bobcats, panthers, eagles, ospreys, hawks, falcons, caracaras, every kind of wading bird, song bird, snow bir… what Ms P??
Oh, sorry y’all–Ms P says I’m digressing, GULP– flora, fauna, buttercups, gazzillions of fish (and the odd cow enjoying a dip on a hot day) made their home…
The great, vast sky was their only roof. Here, rain fell only in certain spots so you could choose if you wanted to get wet or stay dry. All the creatures here felt as if they were in paradise and indeed, if truth be told, this is what paradise must look like!
Before I start the tale, you must meet some new friends. Becrouge (you guessed it–French for red beak–that Ms P and her fancy names!!!!!!) the Moorhen:
And here’s Gelato the Alligator who lives out her days in the hope that some little morsel in the form of a fat and juicy chick will fall from the nests overhead:
Now back to my narration. When Mac first saw Apple high up in the bush with her long feathers flowing in the breeze, his heart made a leap higher than the tallest mountain in Africa.
He got so flustered that in trying to get near her, he flew into a dead bush and got stuck there.
Apple felt her feathers do a scrimping dance all down her back at the sight of this great big clown stuck in the bushes. She didn’t know what hit her. WHAT had happened. One day, you’re out and about with your brain wrapped around an image of the biggest, baddest, fattest mullet. The next, you’re whammoozled into a puddle of pond scum all because of LOVE.
- “Oh Fair One, will you be mine?”
It was the best and the worst thing EVER and no animal or bird, no one at all escaped the fizzle of their passion. They were known far and wide as the “It” couple.
At sundown, Mac would regale Apple with his rendition of air bagpipes.
- “Oh, Mac you play just like Mark K…”
Far out to the eastern Atlantic and west to the barrier islands, there was a massive buzz as every critter told the tale of the Mac and Apple Great Blue Heron love story. It didn’t take them long for the first kiss and then the presenting:
- “Look what I found–it’s “L” for LOVE”
And then, the nest making:
And so on, until three spits of fuzz told all that the chicks WERE HERE:
They gave the three temporary names of MiK, MeeK and MawK until such time as when the rookery caucus would get together and give them permanent names. Now all five of them were happy to bursting and would spend the days eating, fishing, cooing, billing, eating, flying, eating and eating and eating!!!!
But then the storm came—this was a very different kind of storm that would ravage the whole of Southwest Florida and create sadness for all—even the humans.
I will now take my bow and let Ms P tell you what coming next–I’m just so overcome with sadness.
Thank you for such a splendid job, Maya. When we come back with Part II next week, you’ll see why Apple and Mac were given new names—Desdemona and Othello. Meanwhile, click here for the sublime Mark Knopfler and some Irish musicians playing “Father and Son”.
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