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.