friday feature: albany tulip fest

Lots of activity in the capital this weekend for Tulip Fest. I road (yes--on the bike :) through Washington Park on my way home from the Sheridan Prep Community Garden project and marveled at the tulips in bloom, the well manicured greens of the park, and the bright alarming whiteness of persons revealing skin for the first time this season. If I were in Philly, I'd have broken through that barrier sometime in April, usually at the Cherry Blossom Festival, but this year the emergence from sweaters, scarves, and swaths of layers has been much slower. If you see some seriously white legs flashing in the noonday sun tomorrow, don't panic, its just me trying to transition into sun dress season.

The festival line up begins this evening with a special music and art combination over at the Washington Park Lake near the boathouse. According to a newspaper article, "The city will celebrate its 60th Tulip Festival in May with a dramatic art installation floating in Washington Park Lake that will have at its center a 15-foot-tall steel tulip emerging from a burning sculpture. The event, called "Night Fire," is a joint effort among the city, local artists and businesses, national and regional underwriters and an Oscar-winning pyrotechnics engineer."

In addition, "Fish's structure will burn down over a period of about two hours to fully reveal Kroeger's steel tulip, which will be 14 to 15 feet tall. It is being designed and built in consultation with Gary Zeller, an internationally recognized scientist and consultant with environmentally sensitive expertise in fields as varied as prosthetics, green-building technologies and pyrotechnics for film, TV and live entertainment. He received an Academy Award in 1989 for inventing Zel Jel, a protective thermal barrier that has become the industry standard for use in stunts involving fire and explosions."

Sounds exciting, huh? Plus, my parents are here for the festival weekend, which includes a family brunch with the boyfriend's clan and Mother's day festivities. Hug your mom this weekend!