Celebration In The Oaks - part 1

ME AND....... Mister Bingle. We got a groovy thing...

...Goin' on

Mister Bingle, the snowman with the ice cream cone hat is a fixture here in New Orleans! Just saying his name has brought tears to the eyes of locals...


The occasion was a fundraiser reception at the Botanical Gardens...


It was a rather formal affair, but also it was raining! So it looked rather like a Monet painting. These fellows were serving Gumbo:


Each year City Park is filled with lights, mostly hung from the big oak trees. "Celebration in the Oaks" it's called. Pre-K it was a drive-through affair, with lines of cars waiting to go along the roads. Now it seems to be a walk-through thing. This was the preview party, for society types, patrons and the like. I didn't mind spending the money, I'm only here one year.

The place really did have an other-worldly quality to it. Fortunately, my new camera is back from the repair shop, and taking (somewhat grainy) pictures in the dark!


One musical sculpture was a walk-through "Musical Light Harp"... laser beams, when broken, made tones... so one played it rather like a Theramin...



"White Bird, In a Golden Cage,
On a Winter's Day,
In the Rain!"


But the white bird, just sits in her cage, Alone! (It's a Beautiful Day)


Free liquor,
Free food,
Free deserts!

And later, free Cowboy Mouth....

Oh yeah, Robert likes Mr. Bingle too!