If you see a crocodile...

Today, I visited the Ballard farmer's market. I talked for a bit with an artisan selling her hand-made baby-clothes, wrap-around skirts and handbags. I didn't buy anything, but I told her that I had started sewing a year ago, and that I appreciated the pieces I saw. As I began to leave the stall, a woman came up to me, accompanied by her husband and young child.

"Excuse me," she said, "We were at one of your young toddler library storytimes. We are trying to remember the second verse of Row Row Row Your Boat. I know it has something to do with a waterfall and an alligator, and goes Eeek at the end. My son sings it in the bathtub all the time."

I told the woman, "You've just made my day." I wrote out the second verse for her:


Row row row your boat
Roughly down the stream,
If you see a crocodile
Don't forget to scream:
Aaaaaaahhhh!

I learned that verse from a friend in Scotland years ago. I didn't encounter the verse again until I looked up the Wikipedia entry, which has not only the crocodile verse, but even more alternates to make you shiver and laugh. Here is my own contribution for the family I met at the farmer's market:

Row, row, row your boat,
Down the waterfall
If you see an alligator
Throw a melon ball.

Yes, well, it's challenging to improve upon a classic.