Kana's Chronicles

Imagine my perplexity the day I got home from high school to find our family’s front yard overflowing with a flamboyance of pink plastic flamingos.  (Yes, “flamboyance” really is a collective noun for a butt-load of flamingos. I looked it up.)

This is way out of my mother’s usual decorating-range.  If SHE had put the flamingos here, they’d be sporting seasonally coordinated ribbons (pumpkins for October, shamrocks for March) to match the month.  Nope, no seasonal touches–so Where The Flock did these birds come from?

I found the explanatory note pinned to our front door, beginning with a statement of the obvious: “You’ve been Flamingoed!”  Turns out this was a creative fund-raiser for a local church; the note gave the number we could call to have the flamingos removed–OR, for a donation, WE could select the flamingos’ next port-of-call.  [Insert mischievous chuckle here.]  The flamingos magically migrated every few days to a new yard in town, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much good humor in people being asked for money.  In fact, those outrageous birds created a fun sense of community, as all of us “in the know” got a giggle with each relocation. I don’t remember to which church the flock actually belonged, but I know they landed in the yards of Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish families before they retired, presumably to warmer climes than our northern Idaho hometown.

I was thinking today about this fantastic “community” we have online…  I started playing with WordPress last month just because I’d been asked to do a WordPress freelance job (which I accepted without ever having used the site, figuring I’d figure it out. Ta-da.) and honestly believed I’d have exactly three readers: Husband, Mom, and Dad.  Instead, I’ve been blessed with a whole new “family” online–and I spend WAY more time reading other people’s blogs than I do playing with my own.  There’s a fantastic store of humor, wisdom, and insight out there, on whatever topic I’m in the mood to browse!

I got to thinking it would be fun to “flamingo” some folks whose blogs I especially enjoy (minus the “donation,” I mean–just some fanciful, flamingofied recognition), though I haven’t even begun to narrow down that list of blogs to a flamingo-able number!  And that thought led me, in turn, to thinking about that great community-building aspect of blogging, namely, when we read and comment in each other’s little blog-worlds.

So today I’d like to thank some of the folks who have made my blogging so much more enjoyable by participating along with me, the people who have added meaning to my day by sharing their own thoughts on my goofy little posts here.  Once again, it’s a long list, and I appreciate ALL the comments and comment-writers, but for today I’m going to say to the following bloggers: YOU’VE BEEN FLAMINGOED!

• John at Trask Avenue (“this, that, and most definitely the other”)
• Rene at Writingfeemail’s Blog
• Pedro the Cat at marucankissmyfurry…
• Sunshine at Simply Charming (“Growing in grace,love & gratitude…”)
• Pat the photographer at Bailey Road
• the Eskimo’s wife at Southern Sea Muse
• Rose at Waste Not, Want More (“No variations on a theme”)
• Karyn the Aussie at An Observant Mind
• Sharon the adventurer at What is Sharon Doing Now?
• Beth at Beth Parker’s Art Blog (“Art that will make you wiggle your butt!”)

I’d love to see the flamingos get “passed along” virtually, as they were passed among the front yards of my hometown–and I have confidence in my readers’ sense of fun.  ;)  So please feel free to tell the story, stick this flamingo on your blog, or do something else with Flamingoey Fun to celebrate my THANKS to you for being part of my blogging community.  To all of you reading today: why not Flamingo your own appreciated readers?  We’ll be “Ground Zero” of the Flamingo Phenomenon…  ;)