| "body"> | | | | managed to wangle a trip to Florida. |
| In an especially inarguable event that global warming | | | | When he saw the strange object, his brows fretted |
| is proceeding apace, a group of Eskimos noticed - | | | | and he looked up, saying, "I thought you went |
| while hunting for caribou on the sort of unusually | | | | caribou hunting?" |
| balmy day that they've been experiencing with | | | | "We did," one of the hunters replied. |
| ever-growing frequency - a tree they were not | | | | "I did not know that there are caribou in Florida," he |
| familiar with, growing high above the tundra. | | | | said, questioningly. |
| Priding themselves on knowing the flora and fauna of | | | | "Florida?" another hunter asked, now even more |
| their land, they puzzled over the strange growth. | | | | mystified. |
| "Look," one said, "a tree I never saw before." | | | | "Yes, because as far as I know, this thing only grows |
| "No branches," another one puzzled. | | | | in Florida. As you know, once, in my younger days, I |
| "Even a bear couldn't climb it," a third one noted. | | | | went there for a mid-winter break." |
| Then one of them pointed to the groups of large | | | | "Then you know what it is?" the fellow who had |
| roundish green objects in the high and odd-looking | | | | been hit on the head with it asked. |
| leaves, known in warmer climes as palm fronds. | | | | "Yes, he replied. "It's called a coconut." |
| "Look," he speculated, "big fruit, maybe." | | | | "Coconut?" they variously puzzled, passing it around |
| Just then one of the ovoid objects happened to | | | | for another look. |
| break loose and fall toward them. | | | | "Yes," the elder confirmed. "Where did you find it?" |
| Unfortunately, for the fellow who had just identified | | | | "In a tree we never saw before." |
| it as fruit, the object hit him on the head and, being | | | | "And where did you see this tree?" the wizened man |
| rather heavy and hard, it knocked him out. | | | | questioned. |
| When he awoke, he felt the lump on his head, and | | | | "In caribou country," one of the hunters affirmed. |
| concluded, "Not very ripe." | | | | "I swear," another added. |
| Respecting the environment, as all Eskimos are | | | | "Then," he told them, "thanks to global warming, our |
| famously known to do, except when poaching, they | | | | way of life is about to change. You have found a |
| decided not to chop the tree down to take it back | | | | palm tree in Alaska." |
| via dogsled for identification but to settle for | | | | "Palm tree?" they wondered. |
| returning with the unidentified object that had hit | | | | "Yes," he said, and whacked the coconut with a large |
| their unsuspecting fellow villager on the noggin. | | | | knife. |
| When they got back to their village, they went | | | | He savored a sip of the nectar within and, passing |
| straight to the village elder, who was revered for | | | | the coconut around so the hunters might experience |
| many reasons, one of them being that he was the | | | | the milky delectation, he concluded, "And so, if I live |
| only resident of the village who, one year when the | | | | long enough, maybe I will get to enjoy the climate of |
| salmon catch had been especially bountiful, had | | | | Florida without having to make another trip there. |