The Night Before Christmas on Sanibel Isle

Twas the night before Christmas on Sanibel Isle,
Not a gator was stirring, not our one crocodile.
The Roseate Spoonbills wore pink underwear
While Blue Herons were sleeping legs up in the air.
The shops had been emptied of I-Pods and stones,
And last-minute shoppers dialing cell phones.
The Drawbridge Protection was in its last throes,
And from Lake Okachobee poured freshwater woes.

But I with my Flo-Max and Ma with Botox
Were just settling down to our new cable Box,
When all of a sudden nothing bright did appear,
A Lee County Light outage — the one hundredth this year.
The cordless phones in an instant went dead,
No television programs to be watched while in bed.
But the land line we’d kept and the cellular phone
Brought assurance from police we weren’t alone.
When would lights go on? —the police had no clue,
But ‘twas holiday season and they were only a few:
The rest had all gone to Bell Tower Fair
In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.
The generator purchased after Charlie’s big blow
Had gone back to Costco when FEMA said no.

So with one trusty flashlight we walked to the beach,
Met snowbirds collecting every shell within reach.
The moon shining down on red seaweed below
Made some of us wish we had stayed north with snow.
But Sanibel’s no-see-ums not blinded by light
Had all come to wish us Merry Christmas that night.

So back to our houses we ran like a flash,
Closed all our windows and pulled down the sash,
Called Lee County Electric on our cellular phone —
Their message informed us they had all gone home:
In the spirit of Christmas they were proud to say,
An emergency crew would work Christmas Day.

Till then, it concluded, cheerful and bright,
“Merry Christmas to customers, from Lee County Light.”

~ Joe Pacheco