Allyn’s Been Megaflocked — REALLY Megaflocked! Happy Birthday!!! :-)

So, we heard that Allyn (a heck of a nice lady ) was reeeeally wishing for a visit from the flock — and she had commented woefully to her husband Barry (a heck of a nice guy ) that their friends just did not care enough about them to send the flock to visit. So Barry, good guy that he is, enlisted our aid last week in bringing not just the flock, but the whole MEGAFLOCK to visit Allyn — and for her birthday, no less!  We heard she was just thrilled, and exclaimed that, “Our friends really do care!”  (Of course — never doubt it, Allyn!)  And we, in turn, are always thrilled ourselves when we hear that our flock has really made somebody’s day…

But wait — it gets better!  Yes, I know what you’re thinking — “Better than that — REALLY???  I can’t believe it, you’ve gotta be pulling my leg!”  Nope, absolutely not — there really is even more to this already happy story.  What’s that?  “Enlighten me,” you say?  Alrighty — keep reading and I’ll tell you all about it.

So although Allyn loved that the flock came to visit her, she had to depart for work quite early in the morning — she saw them briefly and did the Dance of Joy (figuratively speaking, anyway, I assume — or perhaps she really did get out there and do the happy dance with the flock…  hmmm, maybe we need to add a Flamingo-Cam to our flocking setup so we can see the flockee’s reaction firsthand…), but by the time she got home we had had to pick them up and move them on to other yards of other soon-to-be happy people.  So Barry, realizing Allyn’s disappointment at not having had any real quality time with the birds, arranged to have us bring them back on Saturday night — yes, all of them, the whole megaflock!  (Wow, our first repeat megaflocking, AND the first birthday party our birds have attended — this flocking adventure has definitely earned a place in the anals of our flocking history!)  When asked how Allyn liked her second megaflocking, Barry reported that she LOVED it — she spied the flock as they returned home from dinner and was beside herself with excitement that her flock had come back!  And then she got to enjoy them, as she hadn’t been able to do during the week.  We really love a happy ending!

Want to see the flamingos’ birthday gathering for Allyn?  I got plenty of pictures of this shindig — it was quite festive, made even more so by the magnificent display of Halloween decorations in the yard.  (The flocking experience was particularly Edgar Allan Poe-ish, actually — the decorations were quite spooky to begin with, but combined with the mild thunder and lightning we were experiencing the evening of the first flocking…  Well, I wouldn’t have been at all surprised to have found Poe’s Raven, quothing (yes, I know that isn’t really a word), “Nevermore”…)  So, now that the scene has been set for you, please join the party below — it’s the next best thing to having been there!

I think it’s safe to say…

…that there are several flamingo wranglers out there this evening who are feeling pretty darned pleased with themselves — and rightly so!!!  Our hardy band of wranglers placed the megaflock this evening, and it was an absolute masterpiece.  You think I’m kidding, don’t you?  I can just hear you now – ”How could it possibly have been that great?” you ask…  Well, I’ll just have to show you tomorrow after I’ve gotten some pictures, because I have to admit that I don’t quite know how to put words to it.  (And THAT, my friends, is saying something!)  I’ll just say for now that we clearly have some new ninja wranglers — there are flamingos where I never in this lifetime would have believed there could be flamingos, not without anyone being caught!

(Although…  they might have seen us, guys…  just maybe…  How could they possibly not have seen any of us???  No, of course they didn’t see us — we were completely invisible!  Yeah, that’s it — invisible…)

Anyway, kudos for this evening’s flocking op go out to Debbie (The Flockin’ Pink Tornado!), Julie, Kevin, Krystle, and Shelby (listed in alphabetical order — everyone was equally AWESOME!!!)  Job well done, y’all!

One, Two, Three O’Clock, Four O’Clock – FLOCK!!!

…We’re gonna flock – around – the clock tonight,
We’re gonna flock, flock, flock ’til broad daylight…

No, that was NOT Bill Haley and the Comets — we do, however, thank them profusely for providing us with a song that we could adapt so easily into a flamingo wrangler theme song of sorts.   OK, so maybe we won’t actually be flocking at all hours — but we’re back in the flocking swing of things, and we’re approaching our adventures with that level of enthusiasm!  We’ve been back at it for a couple of days (make that nights) now, and in many ways it’s like we never stopped.  Sneaking through the dark, using stealthy maneuvers we thought we’d probably forgotten over the summer…  Yep, we’ve still got it!  The only thing we’re noting (those of us on the upper end of the age range, anyway ) is that we are breathless from more than the excitement of the flocking experience after we have placed the flock and run like the wind to escape detection.  Speaking for myself (though I suspect that some of my fellow wranglers may agree), this flamingo wrangler has gotten a bit out of shape since last flocking season — I don’t recall wishing for an oxygen tank after making a run for it last year…  Ah, well — that should straighten itself out in short order.  Flocking is actually very good exercise (as evidenced by the aforementioned running like the wind) and I (or we — if any of you other, shall we say, more mature wranglers would like to ‘fess up to being in similar straits ) should be back in good shape before I (we?) know it!

So, we’ve been running our usual flocking operations and getting back in the groove of things quite easily.  In the midst of the usual, though, we did a flocking last night that was somewhat out of the ordinary — in that we didn’t have to worry about being noticed, and so we were able to do some things we don’t normally have the luxury of doing.  We were commissioned to do a flocking at the Board of Education offices, which we carried out with great glee.  Knowing that we would only be seen by the security cameras (and if we’d known where the cameras were, we would have been mugging for them with a big ol’ grin ) we took our time to place the flock just so, and we also were uncharacteristically able to document the flocking with photos taken right then and there, and with our wranglers posing with the flock.  Here, have a look — we were quite proud of ourselves!

There was a reasonable amount of light by the door of the building, but we used the car's headlights to spotlight the flock a bit better. I particularly like the shadows that were thrown on the building -- very ominous looking (though of course our birds wouldn't hurt a fly...)

Pictured here giving the flock a little last minute attention are Carol, a.k.a. "Momma Flocker", and Debbie, a.k.a. "The Flockin' Pink Tornado". Yours truly, a.k.a. (depending on the moment) "The Flockin' Blogger/Photographer", or more recently, "The Flamingo Whisperer" is behind the camera. (Now really, where else would I be???)

Gotcha!!!

Something old, something new…

…but nothing borrowed, or blue (which is absolutely fine, as to our knowledge none of the flamingos are planning a wedding out there… )  Anyway, the first part of that little ditty sprang to mind this morning — when I did my customary morning inspection of the flock as I left for work, I spotted not only the original sign I had put out with the flock about a week and a half ago, but a brand new sign as well.  Are they trying to tell us something?  I think that just maybe they’re getting a bit restless…

They’re BAAA-AAACK!!! :-)

Yes, that’s right — the legendary PINK FLAMINGOS have returned to St. Michaels! They’ve been hanging out in our front yard for about a week now, and it’s been just wonderful to have them back here.  Really it has, I’m not just saying that — when I glanced out the front door last weekend to see that the first flocking operation of the season was in progress in our very own front yard, I was more excited than I can possibly express!  Of course, I knew they were coming at some point — our house (henceforth to be known as “Flamingo Central”) is the universally agreed upon first gathering spot for the flock while we’re getting ready for the fun to begin.  But I was truly caught by surprise at that moment, and in that way experienced a bit of the joy that so many of our flock recipients felt last year when they found the flock had come to visit them…  (I didn’t get the full experience, as I discovered the flocking in progress.  We flocked those folks under the cover of darkness and they never saw it happen — because we’re just so good at what we do!  Oh, the stories we could tell you – and we will, that’s what this blog is for… ;-) )  And the joy continues every day — I honestly have to smile every morning when I look out the door and see them out there, and every evening when they greet me as I come home.  I’ll be sorry to see them leave when it’s time to start flocking…  (And in case you’re wondering, that’ll be OCTOBER 15. You can download a Flamingo Flocking Order Form on the SMMHS Drama Club web site — fill ‘em out and get ‘em in to us, we’re ready to start PAINTING THE TOWN PINK! )

I have to tell you, it’s been really shocking edifying to realize the notoriety recognition and acclaim we obviously achieved with our flocking adventures last year.  As I said, the flock has been in front of the house for about a week now, and I’ve been rather slow in getting our sign made up and out in the yard with them.  (You know, so people would realize they’re out there for an actual reason and that I’m not just some crazy woman with a complete and utter flamingo fixation – although in the course of last year’s goings on, that is pretty much what  I and my compadres have become, and we say there’s nothing at all wrong with that! )  Anyway, so the flamingos have been hanging out in the yard for the past week, with absolutely no indication of what they’re all about out there.  I’ve been kicking myself all week for not finding the time to put the sign together — but even in the midst of my said fairly constant kicking of self, I kept hearing, either directly or second- or third-hand, that people were seeing our birds and apparently the sign was not as necessary as I thought (though I do feel ever so much better now, since I finally got it finished and out with the flock today).  Yes, people have been passing the house all week, seeing the flock out there, and knowing exactly what’s coming down the pike — it’s been really heartwarming to hear the excitement and anticipation that’s building amongst the general populace…  I was enormously amused, though, to hear last Monday afternoon that a certain gentleman was on his way home from work that day (the first weekday they were out there), saw the flock and immediately grabbed his cell phone to call and order his anti-flocking insurance policy — he said he could hardly dial, he was so shaken up.  (Now, I’m sure he very responsibly pulled to the shoulder of the road before making this call.  However, if he was so flustered that he neglected to do so, he was still operating within the law – this was, after all, last Monday, before the hands-free law went into effect…)  I’m torn — I’m not sure whether to be thrilled that the recognition of the flock was that distinct and immediate, or distressed that driving by my house struck such fear in this gentleman’s heart.  Hmmm…  I think I’ll just stick with enormously amused, with maybe a side order of thrilled — yeah, I’ll go with that.

So, good people, I’ll close with this for today – get very excited!!!  The flock is BAAA-AAACK, and they’re looking forward to making the rounds – they can’t wait to go back and visit all of the wonderful friends they made last year, and they want to find even more new friends!  That means YOU!