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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

On the ninth day of Christmas, Zoo Lights the final act

For those of you who have attended Zoo Lights, you may have been wondering about that awsome purple tree.   This amazing sight has been part of Zoo Lights since I first visited over 20 years ago.  With 3030 lights, this massive tree has become an icon of the event. 


The foreground is a popular place for posed pictures!

I think that this was the first place that I had seen purple lights.  For those of you too young to remember, christmas light colors used to be limited to red, green, yellow, and blue.  Then, along came orange purple, even black.  The year this tree first appeared, everyone in town was looking for purple lights but none were to be found. 
 Zoo Lights calls this the flame tree.  Hmmm.  Do you suppose that it's an embothrium coccineum?  If so I love the name.  If not, purple flame?  Was this caused by Purple Rain?  Should it be called the tree formerly known as Flame and be represented by a symbol?
 For me, the sight of this tree alone is worth the price of admission. 


Everyone takes pictures of this breathtaking sight and having the opportunity to photograph it myself was a motivating factor for our visit. Unfortunately, I've never seen a picture that does this wonder justice.  You just have to see it to believe it!
We didn't watch Santa swim with the sharks,  ride the vintage merry go round, ride the camels, or partake in many of the other great offerings of this event and yet we were still there for an hour and a half just taking in the lights.  If you can find the time between Thanksgiving and January 2 next year, consider going to this event.  You will be supporting the Zoo and Aquarium and if you have or can borrow kids, this place will keep them entertained for quite a while.  For more images of the event taken by others, look here.

24 comments:

  1. Wow! We don't have lights like that anywhere. That's a marvellous place to see, I think..

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    1. It would be difficult to do all of this in the snow. The audience would need to spend an hour or two outside in the cold and this might reduce the audience. You have the free aurora borealis show that is much more interesting!

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  2. Spectacular! I love the color combination. Great photos too.

    Purple lights are the first to sell out down here too.

    Thanks for an awesome tour of the Zoolights.

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    1. Thanks Shirley! I'm so glad you came along for the tour.

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  3. Can't love this post enough. You took some great pictures of the purple tree. That's a lot of lights. You've convinced me I need to go to this next year.

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    1. Glad you liked the post enough to go to the event next year. It's really a lot of fun. Next year, I'll watch Santa swim with the sharks so that I can cheer for the sharks.

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  4. That's amazing! I love the purple lights. For some reason, orange seems to be one of the popular choices out here for christmas lights. Thankfully, I love orange.

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    1. Orange and purple lights get used here a lot for Halloween as well. It's wonderful to have lights of any color up during this dark time of the year.

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  5. You are lucky to see such awesome tree, outlaw!

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  6. And the little sprinkling of red lights around the edges really sets it off.

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  7. What an awesome tree! Looks like purple rasberries. Black lights, that's intriguing. Best wishes! :D

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    1. It's one of my favorite things at Zoo Lights! Happy New Year!

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  8. That is outstanding. What a beautiful display. I've heard of the Zoo Lights but never thought they were anything all that spectacular. I was apparently wrong.

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    1. I'm a sucker for Christmas lights and love gardens with lighting for summer nights. There's something magical about being outside at night in a little island of light. Happy New Year Grace!

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  9. I've never heard of this before but it is an awesome sight, like a suspended firework!

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    1. You're right Rosemary! I'd never thought of it quite that way. You have such a wonderful gift for interpreting beautiful sights into equally beautiful imagery!

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  10. Really nice photos! Fun to see all those bright lights... I don't think I'd make it through the dark days of December without the Christmas lights!

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    1. The lights sure do help lighten this darkest time of the year!

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