On the Eleventh Day of Christmas
My True Love Gave to Me
Eleven Pipers Piping
Ten Lords a Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling (Colly) Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree
There's something about the Piper's Piping that gets your attention quickly. It seems to get you involved in the ceremony that is about to begin and it's an intense sound that you can't ignore. Each gazebo at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is three dimensional, glass encased and custom built. They are the creation of local artists and designers for The Dallas Opera, Tommy Bourgeois, along with Dallas Stage Scenery. Credit for the creation goes to Tom and Phyllis McCasland, long-time members of the Dallas Arboretum and supporters of the community. It costs two million dollars and took more than 16,000 hours of labor to build the twelve 25 foot gazebos.
The eleven Pipers Piping symbolizes the 11 faithful Apostles. The color red is used often in Christmas displays. It should be interesting to note that red cannot be formulated by mixing any other colors together. The Hebrew word Oudem means red clay. It is symbolic for sacrifice and the root word for Adam, Esau, and Edom. Here we see the Musicians dressed in Red Scottish Plaid. Flowers you can expect to see are the Red Punch Amaryllis and Poinsettia (Euphorbia Pulcherrima) arrangements. Some of the Nine Ladies dancing wore red gowns. Red ribbons adorn many of the decorations. The color red is a dramatic color that creates a movement within the human spirit.
If you're in the mood for Christmas, I suggest The Twelve Days of Christmas display at the Dallas Arboretum located at 8525 Garland Road, www.dallasarboretum.org (214) 515-6500.
Please visit my previous posts to see and learn more:
On the Eighth Day of Christmas
On the Seventh Day of Christmas
Comments(22)