Those of you who are old enough to remember the Mermaid Epic films of yesteryear will appreciate the image I will try to paint for you later. For those too young to remember the Esther Williams classics, I will attempt to explain them. Think “synchronized swim” before it dared to call itself an Olympic sport. Miss Williams was unquestionably the queen of the Chlorine Prom with her bevy of tight-fitting-one-piece-swimsuit-clad beauties executing perfectly coordinated aquatic maneuvers, shot from above and below the surface in the latest Technicolor scrumptiousness. The plots were unimportant, perhaps even non-existent. Like many Fred Astaire movies (too young for that, too?), the whole point was to provide a setting for the “dance”, not to tell a great story.

Anyway, I mention all this because I saw something the other day that reminded me of these once-popular diversions. I found myself laughing out loud, and thinking, “Oh yeah…there’s my next column!”

As I was driving past Antrim Lake, I glanced over nostalgically. I had been lamenting the departure of the lovely Blue Heron that had been perched in the very center of the lake every evening for weeks this past summer and fall. Since he left, lake life was returning to normal, including the reoccupation of the site by those pesky Canadian geese. What caught my attention, however, was this: They were there, every one of them, heads down in the water, fine-feathered tushes in the air, and forming an almost perfect circle. And, of course, having a slightly warped sense of humor, I immediately imagined that some avian producer was filming a bird’s eye version of one of those old movies. What made it even funnier, was the lone seagull, floating nearby, but off to the side. Surely, this was the great Cecil B. DeGull, once again directing an effort of bird-lical proportions. I could just picture the fans flocking to the theater, terning out in droves, tickets flying out of the box office, scalpers hawking extras, and a sold-out crowd watching DeGull’s latest release, “I Egret My Mistakes”.

It’s a sickness, I know, but sometimes I just really tickle myself.

And this time, I couldn’t wait to share it!