20 December 2010

We've been flocked!

During last week's snowstorm here in Madison, this pink flamingo appeared on our front lawn.  She was accompanied by a plate of Christmas cookies and a note explaining that we had been "flocked."  An elaborate lawn ornament in her prime, the flamingo was now being repurposed as a neighborhood break-the-gloom-of-winter activity. 

The instructions accompanying her indicated that within 2-3 days we were to add a decoration and assist her in migrating to someone else's lawn.  We added a necklace of Christmas tree ornaments and helped her fly to a neighbor, who added two more flamingoes and in the dead of night moved her to someone's front yard on a different street.  She has two more weeks of travelling ahead of her before she ends up back on the originator's lawn.

Tonight is the winter solstice, which marks only the beginning of winter.  One wonders what's yet to come...

December 31.  The flamingo (now dubbed "Flo") has been returned to her home of origin, now laden with a purse, glasses, a scarf, and a variety of seasonal ornaments. 

3 comments:

  1. What a great idea! Unfortunately I don't even know any of my neighbors-- after two years!

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  2. The plastic pink flamingo is the city of Madison's official bird. The reason dates to the classic 1979 prank orchestrated by leaders of the Pail and Shovel Party, which were in charge of student government at the University of Wisconsin at the time. They organized the surprise placement of more than 1,000 pink plastic flamingos on Bascom Hill, the steep incline that leads to the dean's office.

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  3. Story here, for those unfamiliar with it -

    http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/artifacts/archives/001660.asp

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