The Burning of the Bird

I can’t believe I haven’t posted since Sandy.   That is much too long a silent stint , but time flies come November and it is hard to catch my breath.    Even as we speak, I have marshmallows firming up and cookies in the oven – it is a rainy day and life is good.  This holiday season started off with a bang with Thanksgiving 2012 a blockbuster blowout of gluttony and sloth in gross proportions.  We fried turkeys, we brewed beer, we laughed and drank and lived large.  We discussed everything from Al Jazeera taking over computers to arguing about bubble surface tensions to Kermit flying into lamp posts.  We covered a lot of ground.  S and I detoxed for a week after the house quieted.   

And now, the day after the Pville Firebird Festival, the Holiday Fete season has begun!  I posted a blurb last year about the firebird, but hands down, this year was even more entertaining.  Good friends came over about an hour before the burning of the bird and we had a few apps, a drink or two, and headed out with the rest of the town to partake in this most weird of town festivals.  The streets were filled with folks not only walking, but also trying in vain to find parking spots on the crowded streets.   A constant stream of people flowed from their cozy houses to join us as we walked downtown.   I’ve never seen so many people in Phoenixville.  The energy was high.  The soft evening air was full of chatter as we herded our way to cathartically watch a two story bird burn to the ground with 16,000 of our neighbors.      

 

That’s right.   SIXTEEN THOUSAND people were expected and I’d wager that was about right.  We were a sea of humans moving to the beat of the drum circle and chanting Burn the Bird.  It was a blast and boy did it burn.

 

Welcome to the Holidays, everyone.