I remember growing up seeing the odd flamingo in the front yard or garden and did not pay much attention to them. It was not until a youth pastor named Mike "Burr" Lovett held a fundraiser entitled "Flocking" that I discovered my love of God's bright pink masterpiece. When I first laid eyes on a front yard overflowing with a preponderance of plastic pieces of majestic, magical yard art, I knew it was love. My life was forever changed that night. I flocked as many people as I could afford just so I could relive my first sight of that pick perfection. At thirty-six I knew I must own as many types of flamingos as was possible because flocking, like all wondrous things, would eventually pass on into oblivion.
Such is the beginning of my love affair with this amazing tropical bird. My first flamingos were, of course, two of the plastic beauties that had opened my eyes to this wondrous world in pink. Soon I owned a few more pieces of yard art like a flamingo planter, multiple flamingo wind chimes and a flamingo windmill. But not until I moved to the country could I truly indulge my flamingo fetish.
When we moved in, there was one bathroom attired in pink and black ceramic tile with a pink bathtub. I saw my chance to make my flamingo statement in the perfect arena. Yes, you guessed it, I have a flamingo bathroom complete with a flamingo bath rug, clock, shower curtain. wall art, shelf (upon which rests a flamingo cup and saucer, a Jim Shore flamingo and a spun glass flamingo), a collectible flamingo plate that adorns the wall above the shelf, and flamingo towels. It is truly the flamingo lover's paradise. I can think of no better place to sit and ponder the fate of the world while reading the flamingo picture book.
My love of flamingos has also spread to my office where I work with a flamingo pen and have a Gund and a Ty flamingo sitting in front of a palm tree whose lights dance to the tune of "Wipe o
Out." When things I am working on get too serious or my problems begin to weigh me down, I just push the button on the tree and dance to the perfect flamingo music.
I also possess flamingo wearing apparel. For day wear I own a flamingo bigshirt, flamingo capri set (which includes a sleeveless white shirt that has a sequined flamingo on it), a flamingo dress, flamingo bracelet, flamingo toe ring, flamingo brooch, and a flamingo tote. When I leave my house I can proclaim the virtues of the flamingo by simply getting dressed. I can even sleep in flamingo comfort in my flamingo nightgown.
My love of the flamingo has now spilled over into the kitchen with a 4-piece set of melamine flamingo dishes and a 4-piece set of flamingo corn holders.
And what Christmas would be complete unless I had, you guessed it again, a 4-foot white Christmas tree covered in flamingo ornaments.
I would say that my life is pretty much flamingo perfect but there are pieces that are missing. For example, flamingo shoes, flamingo earrings, flamingo necklace, flamingo bed sheets, more glass flamingo art...there is still so much to do!
The joy of the flamingo must be spread past Florida to the uttermost reaches of the globe. I assure you that I am doing my part in trying to put a flamingo in every house in America.
"a merry heart doeth good like a medicine." Proverbs 17:22
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