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Saturday, December 15, 2007

Distant Revels & A Rare Bird

After digging out from Thursday’s snow storm, we attended Friday’s opening night of The Christmas Revels at Memorial Hall in Cambridge. An annual tradition for us, this was one of the least accessible, yet aurally and, to a lesser extent, visually interesting Christmas Revels we’ve attended. This year’s Revels revolves around the peoples and winter solstice traditions of the Balkans. The music was both haunting and stirring as it soared through mostly minor keys, in close harmonies. But both Chuck and I felt as if it was an unusually distant experience, partly due to the language barrier and partly because of the somewhat closed staging. The performers seemed to be facing in toward one another, rather than out toward the audience. Despite a few shortcomings, we enjoyed the whole of the experience, including Lord of the Dance.

At the end of Revels we headed out onto the icy, slushy sidewalks of Cambridge and rushed over to Asmara for a late dinner of Ethiopian and Eritrean dishes. As always, everything was delicious. Stepping back out onto Mass Ave not long before midnight, unlike our little town, Cambridge was still bustling. We left Central Square and headed towards Harvard Square, enjoying all the city lights and holiday lights along the way. On our way out of town, we cut through some of the residential streets near Porter Square. We spotted the scene above and had to turn around and drive back. I quickly jumped out of the car and snapped a few photos of the animated pink flamingo! Not to slight the reindeer which was also animated, but he and his relatives are fairly easy to find in this area around the holidays. But a pink flamingo is a rare bird indeed in the winter months! Actually the plastic pink flamingo lawn ornaments were first created in 1957 in Leominster, Massachusetts. But this lighted, animated cousin appears to be a striking example of rapid evolution of the species!

4 comments:

Ms Brown Mouse said...

When I was a wee girlie my mum showed me the flamingos at the zoo, not impressed I turned away with a "nah, pink ducks".

Pink Granite said...

Hey DMM -
Love it!
I'm fascinated with the way our brains - even very young brains - can sort creatures into their proper categories. I mean cats have four legs, two ears and a tail, as do dogs. But even little kids know "doggy" from "kitty"!
I guess that's just how my brain works...
;o)
- Lee

Roo said...

hey hey - pink glow in the dark flamingos - how very erm....alternative - he grins wickedly };o)

Love the snow picture!

Pink Granite said...

Hey Roo -
I'm so glad it made you smile - wickedly or otherwise!!!
Glad you liked the pics!
<);o)
- Lee
P.S. Excellent emoticon!