Song Whistler

My father is one of the world's great whistlers. As a child, he used to fascinate me with his chirping and fluttering birdcalls. He loves birds, and our yard back in rural Wisconsin is like a sanctuary...finches and morning doves, blue jays and hummingbirds. Cardinals. Right inside the patio sliding glass door, on the counter near the fruit basket is his Book of Birds and set of binoculars.

He's a song whistler too, of course. And what he's whistling depends on what he's listening to, usually. My folks had a lot of lounge music around the house when I was little. Y'know - Montenegro, Percy Faith, et al...back then he'd be whistling "The Summer of '42" or something. He was in a country western phase for a little while too - Bobbie Gentry and Glen Campbell. WMAQ. Then it'd be "The Green Green Grass of Home". Lately, they're into everything; classic jazz, some light rock...

There's so many great whistling songs. "Sitting On the Dock of the Bay". Billy Joel's "The Stranger". That one Grant Hart song. Or was it Nova Mob? And isn't there a Teenage Fanclub song that has a whistling verse?

C'mon admit it. You're whistling the solo from "Sitting On the Dock of the Bay" right now. It's infectious isn't it? I'll find myself whistling without even noticing it, sometimes. Walking or working it happens a lot, really.

Sure, I whistle too, but it ain't nothing compared to what my pops can do. Been a long time since I've heard that whistle. Maybe if I make it back before the holidays, I'll catch a little "Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow".

I think I'd like that a whole lot - and I ain't whistling Dixie.

Copyright © 2002 Alice Kenner