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Sunday, December 28, 2008
Thematic Photographic 30: "Holiday" v.2.0 - Acorn Drop
With Christmas now in the rearview mirror, the next big thing is ringing in the New Year. One of Raleigh's nicknames is "The City of Oaks" (which any allergy sufferer can tell you is an accurate enough moniker) and as a nod to that designation, the City Council many years ago commissioned a giant bronze acorn which spends most of the year in Moore Square Park.Until New Year's Eve that is. Then the giant squirrel bait replica is hoisted into the air by a crane and lowered a la Times Square Disco Ball as the last seconds of the outgoing year are ticked off. I took this shot on New Year's Eve 1999, so the acorn drop had extra significance on that occasion. Half of the assembled crowd was no doubt waiting for the world to end when the acorn hit the ground. And I remember remarking to my date for the evening (also an IT professional) that I wondered if the Chinese had to recalibrate their abacuses at midnight of New Year's Eve 999. then again, the Gregorian Calendar was still 500 years in the future at that point, so probably not, eh?
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3 comments:
Ha ha! What a long way Raleigh has come since I was a little tyke living there back in the early 70's.
I'm liking the looks of the Wordsmith's Challenge - will have to check that out sometime.
I've watched that acorn drop at least five times since First Night started. My brother-in-law (from NY/NJ) gives us no end of grief about the acorn and how it mimics the ball drop in Times Square.
I'm originally FROM North Cakalacky and had NO idea that the capitol dropped an ACORN on NYE! lol
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