Welcome back. Traveling along the Gulf of Mexico around the Corpus Christi area for the last four months I’ve brought you stories about Boots Adams and Phillips 66, museums and all the different species of birds among many other subjects I hope you found interesting. Though my time here is done before I go, I’ll leave you with a follow-up to my story about my sighting of two mermaids a couple of months ago which many of you commented on. Whether this was due to lack of water, too much sun, excitement upon meeting billionaire Tom Benson’s only surviving daughter or even me being nuts, it’s documented that Christopher Columbus saw them and so did I.
After some research on the subject, I learned that mermaids were first spotted in the Philippines way before Columbus so this week I’m taking you back thousands of years to when legend has it that the king of the Philippines married a creature from the sea whose beauty was unmatched. From their union seven daughters were born and after the king’s death these daughters departed going to different places around the world. Now these seven daughters weren’t normal people. Like their mother from head to waist they were human and also very beautiful with long hair stretching below their waists. But from the waist down these girls had the body of a fish. They also shared another characteristic that their mother didn’t have; they were able to take on human form, changing the fish like part of their bodies into legs. Of course, over the years with the writing of many book about mermaids these stories have grown and turned into legends.
In Rockport where the mermaid legend is strong most stores carry books about what mermaids are like and how to capture one. Towels, clocks, glass bowls and clothes, you name it stores like The Mermaid Ranch and Treasure Island have everything you can think of with a mermaid theme. At the Rockport Daily Grind coffee shop owner Michelle McMahon tells me she wouldn’t be surprised if mermaids in human form have been in her store.
Yes friends, these mythical creatures are well known down here so before you make a decision think about it. You too may have met a mermaid or as history calls them, a siren when in human form. But beware, the history books also say that if you see a mermaid a shipwreck may lay ahead in your future.
Till next time I’ll see ya down the road…………….