Oh When the Skeletons Go Marching In

The best part of working on events like the Great Halloween Lantern Parade in Patterson Park last night?
Serious conversations like these:

"Should I take the arms off the skeletons?" "No, you don't have to take all the arm bones off the skeletons. But pile the other bones over there."
"Could somebody lash down the dragons. They're starting to blow away."
"Can you carry a ship?" "Maybe" "No worries. It's not that heavy. And you don't have to sing sea chanties with us, but it would be great if you did."
"Is that terradactyl over there made out of saran wrap?"
(Q from interviewer with Austrailian radio station): "Do you do this every year?" A:"I hope so."

This year's lantern parade was even better than last year. As it always is. I got to see the Pagoda from inside for the first time too. Too bad it's closing for the year today. Not really picnic weather anymore anyway. I'll have to clean up my seersucker suit and basket for that for next year. Now it's soup party season.

I noticed something new this year. Spending time with the history of the Battle of Baltmore every day (and being in an 1812 sailor costume) I was very aware that the shadow play at the end of the parade happened just underneath the cannons near the Pagoda that mark the top of Hamptead Hill. It's where people from all over the city dug trenches to hold back the British and keep them from burning the city down. It's a place where a lot of fear, hardship and anger was concenrated 200 years ago. I'm glad that the events and the whole park reclaimed that space with things so noisy, messy, fun and beautiful things, and I think it does no disrespect and only honors how hard those peole worked to save the city. In fact, I'm sure things like the parade are exactly why they did it.

Usually I would be sad to see everything from the parade get pulled apart, recycled and even thrown away. But the more that I do these enormous, ephemeral art projects, the more I realize the magic is in the fact (despite all the work) these things come in and then blow away just as quickly. Having something completely disappear into memory only makes space for more things. I'm getting a lot better at being excited for whatever comes next.

Thanks Molly, Annie, Jed and Adam, Scott, Justin, Ariel and everybody else for creating such an awesome parade. I can't wait until next year.