The Vacation Of Neil Lillo March 2006

I wrote this as Karen was in Arizona visiting her sister Joanne.

THE VACATION OF NEIL LILLO
(In the mode of The cremation of Sam McGee)
By Robert W. Service


There are strange things done in the land of the sun,
They golf from dawn to dusk;
They never worry about wintry tales
Snow drifts as high as a bus.

My wife went south, she has been gone a month;
She enjoys the life in the sun,
I am wintering here and shoveling snow;
I’m dreaming of a hole in one.

Now in the cremation of Sam McGee,
This man was never warm,
But that is not my fate because my mate;
Karen was there in my arms.

Now that she’s gone, I am never warm,
I use a bed buddy every night,
It will never replace, her tender embrace,
Even when I’m squeezing it tight!

I look for the day when I tee off again,
My ball flies straight to the hole,
I pick up my tee and bend at the knee
As my foursome claps as a whole.

I am sitting here on the first day of spring
The temperature is seven degrees,
The low wind chill doesn’t give me a thrill,
As she enjoys a warm southern breeze.

It seems so odd that we have trod,
Together in winter and spring,
Then she goes off to a warm summer loft,
I am left here with winter’s sting.


I made a promise to my Goddess,
That I would join her there,
I would fly to Arizona, be beside her,
I would shed my winter ware.

I landed in the sun, my freezing days done,
My long john’s can go in the drawer.
While I break out my shorts, look for golfing resorts,
You will spoil this Norske for sure!

I went golfing with Brother Dave the first day,
I was here in the land of the sun,
We beat up that course, got sunburned so crisp,
We lost some balls in the wash.

Lori & Jeff put me to the test, Kyle my caddie that day,
I was doing real fine, till hole number nine, then my luck went the other way.
Hole number eleven, was like heaven, as I hole out a bunker shot.
I was on cloud nine, this golf game is fine, I’m sure I will play it a lot.

We enjoy Arizona, it sure is warmer, than Minesota’s clime.
We will return, get sunburned, again about Easter time.
Joanne has been great, hospitality first rate, we both want to return,
We pray we can, do this trip again, vacation in the land of the sun.

There are strange things done in the land of the sun
By the men who hit a round ball,
Their golf trails, have their wild tales
That are sometimes believable!
The Arizona sun, has seen things done,
That would make a northern man cry,
Some men keep score never more than four

No matter how many shots they try.

Neil

March 2006


There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold;The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold;The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did seeWas that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGee.
Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows.Why he left his home in the South to roam 'round the Pole, God only knows.He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell;Though he'd often say in his homely way that he'd "sooner live in hell".