my funny hat...

...is finished. I will need it tomorrow evening when I participate in the Lantern Parade on the Beltway with 30,000 other vagrants. You can see how skilled I am at procrastination, waiting until the eleventh hour to tear around trying to get it completed. (Actually, it is only 9:45 , but still pretty late for me to be up typing!)

Assembled at a workshop in a church basement in Decatur several weeks ago, I'd done it all except the top. We were instructed that the frame should be completely covered, for the best lantern effect. I had to put some paper on the top, a big oval of white, translucent tissue paper. It is about two feet tall, with the top slanted towards the back, at a very rakish angle. Very comical. The bottom edge is green tissue, looking grass-like, and the top is covered with shades of blue, looking sky-ish.

I have been pondering what I should add to make it even more amusing, and was thinking about bugs or butterflies. There is a little battery operated light that was installed during construction. Glued on to the top of the felt hat that was used as a base. I am thinking that the tissue paper will 'glow' when the light inside is turned on, so wanted to do something that would have a real impact in the dark when the interior light shines through the translucent tissue paper. Which means that the shapes that on the outside, made of opaque construction paper, will look like silhouettes when it gets dark and the light is on.

A goodly sized swarm of butterflies will walk along with me as we troop down the Beltway through the city, along with all those other thousands of amusing folk, lit in one way or another for the parade. There are a number of nightspots/watering holes along the path, so they may be 'lit up' in a way that does not involved battery operated devices.

I think as we were building hats at the workshop several weeks ago, the organizing folk were making signs to announce the different musical groups that would participate: at least six bands, or possibly just noise makers. I found a cow bell when I was looking for pipe cleaners last night, that is going to be part of my outfit. Count me in on noise-making.

Lots of kids in attendance, or as spectators last year, with paper lanterns on dowels, enjoying the hilarity. I expect it grows each year, and it will be barely organized chaos... the 'organized' part is all the effort that goes into planning, which generally falls apart as the event gets underway. I am sure you will find lots of photos on Youtube after we troop around in the dark.