Light Show

 

Wild Lights at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita wasn't a Christmas display, per se. But it was definitely an early Christmas gift for us.

I wish I could tell you that the display was still there and recommend that you take the family. But, we barely made it ourselves. Thankfully, we chose a weekday evening with perfect fall weather.

Wild Lights consisted of Asian Lantern sculptures from the Tianyu Arts and Culture, Inc., illuminating paths throughout the zoo. Jeff Ettling, the president and CEO of the zoo, said in a news story that it it took about a week to install the 47 elements. The 47 is kind of misleading. It took 13 semi truckloads to get the display to Wichita. 

One of the first displays almost looked like embroidery from a distance. 

 

 

Besides being beautiful, it was interactive. Kids were having a great time stepping (or stomping) on lighted circles in front of the display to make it move.

This was Tianyu's first display in this part of the country. In looking at their website, the Tianyu displays are patterned after Chinese lantern festivals. 

 

Lantern Festivals are traditionally part of traditional Chinese New Year celebrations. Observed on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunar Chinese calendar, the Lantern Festival marks the final day of traditional Chinese New Year celebrations. Light festivals carry people’s expectations for a better life and prosperity of the coming year.

The Tianyu's displays have taken the beauty of the lantern festivals and bolstered it with modern technology, including electricity to illuminate lanterns and the use of LED bulbs.

The craftspeople who construct the huge lantern displays are still using the traditional lantern-making skills - just on a much larger scale. They come in many shapes and sizes, including animals, plants, sea creatures, Chinese culture, architecture and more.  

My favorite was the butterfly tunnel, which featured 230 butterflies.

 

Another of my favorites also featured butterflies (big surprise)!

 

 

 Randy's favorite display was the pair of swans. 

It was even more beautiful because of the reflections on the water. The water reflection of this display also caught my eye as I looked back across the pond.

But it was also gorgeous close up.

Changing colors in some of the displays gave an evolving viewpoint.

Traditionally, colorful glass and jade were used to make lanterns, with figures from folk tales painted on the lanterns. 

 

If we'd had the girls with us, I figure they would have loved the animal displays.

Another of Randy's favorites was the peacock. It generated quite a crowd, waiting on the plumage to bloom.

And, of course, you can't go wrong with flowers.

 

The Tianyu Arts and Culture has many different traveling units that travel the U.S. and all around the world. If one comes near your town, we highly recommend it!

But don't forget to look outside your own window, too. There's usually a pretty good light show there, too.

A Map to Zoo Fun: A Book for Kinley & Brooke

 

It was a roaring good time!

We met Jill and the girls at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita on March 5, the first day of their spring break. The last time we were there, Kinley was just a toddler, and Brooke hadn't made her appearance in the world yet. (Kinley was the reporter for the day on the blog post here.)

I've written several books for the girls through the years. I did the first version of a farm ABC book while Jill was still pregnant with Kinley and gave it to her at a shower. I added a farm counting book to the mix a few years later. 

But I've also done several books based on day trips we've taken together - to Rolling Hills Refuge near Salina, to Exploration Place at Wichita, to a horse farm and the Sternberg Museum at Hays, Tanganyika Wildlife Park and the Kansas State Fair. I've also done a couple from their visits to the farm, including wheat harvest and a solo visit from Brooke when Kinley was with her Ladd grandparents and cousin. When I started digging through the book shelves, I discovered 9 books! Most of them are done in rhyme, and all feature my photography.

When we were in Topeka at Easter time, Brooke brought me a couple of "our" books to read - the farm counting book and Zoobilation, a book from our Rolling Hills Zoo visit. She made my day!

As she cuddled on my lap, she asked, "Grandma, are you going to write a book about the Wichita zoo?"

Well, at the time, it wasn't in the works. I'd been in charge of a 100-year celebration for my PEO group, and I'd done a 26-page book for that, too. 

Cover of the PEO book

 

March also brought several extra days of cattle work. But how could I refuse that request? I'd certainly taken plenty of photos. And when a little girl asks so beseechingly right after wanting to read together? It didn't take much convincing!

So, a week or so later, I hit "publish" on A Zoo Map to Fun with Kinley & Brooke. In addition to my verses, I added some facts from the Sedgwick County Zoo website. The girls love the behind-the-scenes TV shows about zoos and the people who care for the animals, and I figured a few facts might make it more interesting for Kinley, too. (She also reads the National Geographic Junior magazine cover to cover.)

To read the 20 pages, you'll probably have to pull up each photo separately. It shows each individual page. The completed book hasn't arrived yet. I can hardly wait to share it with the girls!

Front cover

 

 

 

 

Back cover