T’was the night before Christmas, and all through the town,
No noses were frozen, nor snow on the ground.
No children in flannels were tucked into bed,
They all wore their shorty pajamas instead.
To find wreaths of holly was not very hard,
For holly trees sprouted in every backyard.
In front of the houses were daddies and moms,
Decorating hibiscus and coconut palms.
The slumbering kiddies were dreaming with glee,
Hoping to find surf boards under the tree.
They all knew that Santa was well on his way,
In a fiberglass boat instead of a sleigh.
He whizzed up the rivers, zoomed up the canals,
Delivering toys to good boys and gals.
The tropical moon gave the cities a glow,
And lit the way for Santa below.
Quite soon he arrived and started to work,
He hadn’t a second to linger or shirk.
He jumped from his boat and gave a wee chuckle,
He was dressed in deck pants, with an ivy league buckle.
There weren’t any chimneys, but that caused no gloom,
For Santa came in through the Florida room.
He stopped at each house but stayed only a minute,
As he emptied his sack of the toys that were in it.
Before he departed he had a long drink,
From the glass of fresh orange juice left by the sink.
He turned with a jerk and jumped into his boat,
Knowing that he still had more toys to tote.
He put it in gear and he opened the gas,
Then up the Peace River he went like a flash!
And I heard him exclaim as he went on his way:
“Merry Christmas, Punta Gorda, I wish I could stay ….
