Show Me Wild Florida Flamingos!
Show me
flamingos…gone
one hundred fifty years…
Reappeared twenty years ago
in flaming glory in
the Everglades.
Show me!
Hunted
to extinction;
Florida pioneers
had hungry mouths to feed.
Flamingos disappeared,
except in zoos.
That’s sad!
There’s peace
in paradise.
The Everglades are home
to wild flamingos once again.
Where did they all come from?
From South America,
some say.
Show me
wild flamingos
returned to Florida
one hundred fifty years later
in their flaming glory.
Paradise found!
Show me!
Copyright© 2025 by Cheryl Batavia
Road Trip to Everglades National Park
& the Florida Keys
My two daughters, Ellen and Katey, live in Dallas. We have missed our traditional yearly road trip for the last two years due to my illness. This year, we are taking the long-awaited trip to the southern part of Everglades National Park. I am hoping to see the wild flamingos that mysteriously settled there twenty years ago. Some people say they came from South America.
Flamingos had not lived in the wild in Florida for the previous one hundred and fifty years. I have dreamed of seeing these wild flamingos since I first heard about them . Maybe it will happen!
Before we leave, at the request of my younger daughter Katey, we will have an Easter egg hunt. I am filling plastic eggs with small chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, and some goofy little surprises. I will hide hide the eggs in the yard for Katey and Ellen to find. This is the first Easter I have spent with my daughters for many years, and I am looking forward to it!
Katey has also asked me to get a favorite ice cream that is not available in Texas. It is cherry ice cream with chococolate-covered cherry hearts mixed in. We will try to eat small portions!
My daughters are going kayaking. We are taking two boat tours, one in the Gulf of Mexico, and one in the back country.
Then, we are going to the Florida Keys to swim with the dolphins at Theater of the Sea. There are many other marine animals there, including sea turtles, seals, sharks, and rays.
We plan to eat some authentic Cuban food, locally grown tropical fruit, and some famous Key Lime pie. I will post photos and tell you all about our adventures when we return.
I will be on break from April 15-30, 2025.
Gulf Coast Poet 