On the Twelfth Day of Christmas - Zoo Lights

Attending Zoo Lights at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium is a holiday tradition for many.  We almost skipped it this year but decided to go on the last weekend of the event.

This lighted sea lif celebration was a popular place to take pictures.  While we saw the sharks in their huge habitat, we missed seeing Santa feed them.

Mt. Rainier in lights. 

There were lots of lit animals but many of them moved or flew over paths so they had to be experienced to be appreciated.

 This panda seems happy with his bamboo lunch!   This is just the thing that we need to control those pesky running bamboos.  Right Allan?

 Polar bears on ice seem to have decided to vacation down south this winter. 

 There seemed to be lights in every direction!

The purple tree changes a bit each year but, for many,  remains a favorite part of the show. 

The Tacoma Narrows Bridges.  The older one in front replaced the famous "Galloping Gertie."

In case you haven't seen the video of the bridge falling in a windstorm, here it is:

Zoo Lights on acid.  This is what happens when on tries to make a movie on a camera when he can't see the dials in the dark. Fun though. 

Peacock strutting his stuff.

I wouldn't so much mind if this is the last snow we see this winter. 

Reindeer.  Can you find Rudolph?

The giant octopus trying to eat the North Pacific Aquarium building. 

Are we still in the soggy Northwest?

Yes, we are!  For those who aren't  sports fanatics, the Seattle Seahawks, a football team, use the 12th man idea that originated in Minnesota in 1900 and has been used by many teams, most notably Texas A&M.  Anyway, the 12 sits atop a huge tree decorated in the Seahawk team colors.  I'm borrowing the 12 for Twelfth Night, when the liturgical church in the west celebrates Epiphany, the coming of the wise men, and the 12th day of the twelve-day feast of Christmas.   In the Eastern Church, January 6 is the day Christmas is celebrated. 

Twelfth Night celebrations predate Christianity.  For more information and cool pictures about the tradition, see this article in The Telegraph.  Love the green man costume!  Happy last day of Christmas all!

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.

On the eighth day of Christmas, a Zoo Lights resolution

You may be a plant geek if you go to a beautiful holiday light show like Zoo Lights and get as big a thrill from the outlines of some of the plants you see as you do from the amazing light show.

I usually don't bother with resolutions for the new year because they usually don't last very long.  However, if I go back to Zoo Lights next year, I will take a tripod to get better pictures of the dramatically lit foliage.  That's a resolution , right?

 

Usually when thinking of zoos, great gardens don't spring to mind but the Point Defiance Zoo has delicious gardens on their grounds!  I once had the pleasure of meeting the head gardener from Point Defiance when he was shopping at Jungle Fever Exotics, just up the street.   Are those aloes, agaves, and yuccas?

 This reminded me a little of Shirley's beautiful blue agave.

I finally couldn't stand it any longer, turned on the flash and started pointing the camera in the direction of shapes that looked interesting.

 There were so many palms that I lost count!

 Lots of different kinds of bamboo.  This grove is pretty impressive!  Can you see the head of the person just right of center?

By the time I found this echium, my second resolution became clear:  I WILL revisit the zoo during the day when the holiday event is over.  While they have some adorable newborn tigers that everyone is talking about, and lots of other fascinating animals, I'll be more interested in the plants. 

 A teenaged (under 40 they all look like kids to me) woman said loudly to her friend for my benefit, "Doesn't he realize that flash photography won't get the lights very well?" Truth be told, I had the same thought when folks were trying to capture the lights utilizing a flash but I was taking pictures of the plants.   Thank you for this bit of wisdom!  I do hope that you will return to the zoo with me during the day so that you can tell your friend that if I point the camera at the plants I won't get very good shots of the elephants. 

Trachycarpus fortunei drupes looking quite lovely!

 I'm looking forward to revisiting this place in 2013.  Finally, a resolution I can keep!

 

Hope you have a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2013!



On the seventh day of Christmas, Zoo Lights

A trip to Zoo Lights at Tacoma's Point Defiance Park is a special holiday treat enjoyed by many!  There is a lot of great information about the event here.  Since we hadn't visited  for at least 15  years, we thought it might be interesting to revisit and see if, after all this time, Zoo Lights still lived up to all the hype.  We certainly weren't disappointed.  Even this grinchy curmudgeon whose favorite seasonal greeting is Bah Humbug, found himself giggling and enjoying this carnival of Christmas.

There are more than half a million lights decorating the Zoo.

 Do you see Mr. Rainier in the background?   How did they light the entire mountain for this event?  One also wonders how they changed the orientation of an entire mountain.

Is that a yucca dressed in white lights?

Everywhere along the paths, the gardens are full of lights!

In addition, there are lots of animated displays that would look cool on video if I had remembered to bring my tripod.  You'll just have to check out the wonders of Zoo Lights yourself!

 This rainbow is huge, beautiful and can be seen from quite a distance.  Unfortunately, no one seemed able to find a pot of gold at the end.

 

Scale models of the Narrows Bridges. Notice the tail lights on the bridge on the left and headlights on the one on the right - clever.   

 

If you haven't seen the dramatic video of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse in 1940 and are interested in that sort of thing, here you go. 

 

 

Becasue it's a zoo, there are lots of interesting animals to be seen like this giant squid that, because of the rapid changing of light color, seems to be undulating all over the roof of the aquarium.

Pea fowl.

Lower entrance to the aquarium.

Water birds.

Most of the real zoo animals get to sleep during this event but there are plenty of pretend ones to discover.

There is so much to do at this event like watching Santa swim with the sharks, riding a vintage merry go round, sipping hot chocolate to name a few. 

 

Love this variegated yucca wearing white lights. Speaking of  plants, the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium grounds are home to incredible gardens.  More on that tomorrow.  I hope that when the clock strikes midnight and a new year begins, you find yourself healthy, happy, and loved.