Monday, June 13, 2005
♫On The Muscle of My Arm...
♫On the muscle of my arm
Is a red and blue tattoo
That says Ft Worth,
I Love You....♪
Well, if Bird had an arm that was capable of displaying a tattoo we're certain that is something he would consider after reading the following report out of Beford, Texas, a suburb of Ft. Worth. At the very least he will be singing the quotrd song on his return flight from the Gulf Coast.
Nine years ago, Bob Moore bought two pink plastic flamingos. Barely had he jammed them into the ground when his imagination took flight. He decided they looked lonely and bought two more; then he doubled the leggy flock again because 'with eight of them, they could play four-on-four football,' said Moore, 53, a mail carrier.
Today the flamingos, which he has affectionately dubbed 'the ladies of the lawn,' live in a world of constant costume changes and public scrutiny. Passers-by gape when they see 'the girls' brandishing bats during baseball season. Neighbors smile in May at pink 'graduates' in caps and gowns. Friends check out feathered witches, cowboys and pirates at Halloween.
And kids roll their eyes when Moore trots out the birds' back-to-school backpacks.
"This is a labor of love, a creative outlet -- and none of it gets expensive," Moore said. He pays about about $14 a pair. During the 2004 Olympics, Moore lined up the birds single file, bearing flags of competing countries to mimic the opening ceremony. To pull it off, he put flag images onto rectangles made from old T-shirts.
"That theme took three months of planning," he said.
Sometimes, Moore said, he goes for a deeper message. Come election time, the beaked bevy displays signs proclaiming 'Vote Red' or 'Vote Blue.' At the end of election days, they flaunt signs that say 'We voted! Did you?'
Moore said he is pleased that pink flamingos -- popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s and later considered tacky -- have regained some favor as lawn ornaments.
"I know there are places where you couldn't get these past a homeowners association," he said. But not a single person has complained. "In fact, if the flamingos are down for three days, I have neighbors knocking on the door saying, 'Is everything all right?'"
His wife, Carol Moore, is a registered nurse who assists occasionally in his costume searches. But she doesn't sit there and think, "What new thing can I do?" her husband said.
And sometimes neighbors offer hands-on help. On Moore's 51st birthday, homemaker Terri Dunn crept over in predawn hours to deliver a fake cake and adorn the birds with glittery party hats. And when Moore opted for a golf motif, Dunn fashioned miniature replicas of the late Payne Stewart's tam-o'-shanter and Tiger Woods' Nike cap.
"His flamingos are cool," Dunn said. "You just never know."
"It's not a constant thought," he said. "But you do have to think ahead." So it was that last week, after a brief sabbatical, 'the girls' turned to the genteel sport of croquet. Moore strove for authenticity -- and not just with mallets and wickets.
He cropped his lawn close in keeping with United States Croquet Association rules.
You may read the enitre article here, but sadly, there are no pictures.
Is a red and blue tattoo
That says Ft Worth,
I Love You....♪
Well, if Bird had an arm that was capable of displaying a tattoo we're certain that is something he would consider after reading the following report out of Beford, Texas, a suburb of Ft. Worth. At the very least he will be singing the quotrd song on his return flight from the Gulf Coast.
Nine years ago, Bob Moore bought two pink plastic flamingos. Barely had he jammed them into the ground when his imagination took flight. He decided they looked lonely and bought two more; then he doubled the leggy flock again because 'with eight of them, they could play four-on-four football,' said Moore, 53, a mail carrier.
Today the flamingos, which he has affectionately dubbed 'the ladies of the lawn,' live in a world of constant costume changes and public scrutiny. Passers-by gape when they see 'the girls' brandishing bats during baseball season. Neighbors smile in May at pink 'graduates' in caps and gowns. Friends check out feathered witches, cowboys and pirates at Halloween.
And kids roll their eyes when Moore trots out the birds' back-to-school backpacks.
"This is a labor of love, a creative outlet -- and none of it gets expensive," Moore said. He pays about about $14 a pair. During the 2004 Olympics, Moore lined up the birds single file, bearing flags of competing countries to mimic the opening ceremony. To pull it off, he put flag images onto rectangles made from old T-shirts.
"That theme took three months of planning," he said.
Sometimes, Moore said, he goes for a deeper message. Come election time, the beaked bevy displays signs proclaiming 'Vote Red' or 'Vote Blue.' At the end of election days, they flaunt signs that say 'We voted! Did you?'
Moore said he is pleased that pink flamingos -- popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s and later considered tacky -- have regained some favor as lawn ornaments.
"I know there are places where you couldn't get these past a homeowners association," he said. But not a single person has complained. "In fact, if the flamingos are down for three days, I have neighbors knocking on the door saying, 'Is everything all right?'"
His wife, Carol Moore, is a registered nurse who assists occasionally in his costume searches. But she doesn't sit there and think, "What new thing can I do?" her husband said.
And sometimes neighbors offer hands-on help. On Moore's 51st birthday, homemaker Terri Dunn crept over in predawn hours to deliver a fake cake and adorn the birds with glittery party hats. And when Moore opted for a golf motif, Dunn fashioned miniature replicas of the late Payne Stewart's tam-o'-shanter and Tiger Woods' Nike cap.
"His flamingos are cool," Dunn said. "You just never know."
"It's not a constant thought," he said. "But you do have to think ahead." So it was that last week, after a brief sabbatical, 'the girls' turned to the genteel sport of croquet. Moore strove for authenticity -- and not just with mallets and wickets.
He cropped his lawn close in keeping with United States Croquet Association rules.
You may read the enitre article here, but sadly, there are no pictures.
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