No, the connection is not the flamingos, although I do have one. More about that later. These flamingos are in the side and front yard of the apartment where my sons Lamont and Leland used to live, back when Mama and I moved to Portland in June, 2006. That's the personal connection. Funny thing. I didn't hear a dog at all, and I walked back and forth taking photos for a few minutes. You'd think with that Beware of the Dog sign that I would have heard some barking. Wonder if it's there as a joke?
Back to my pink flamingo. I bought it at the Goodwill on West Burnside later on in 2006 right after I had heard the news story that production would cease at the Union Products factory in Leominster, Massachusetts on November 1, 2006. While it has no legs, turns out my flamingo is one of the "official" ones made between 1987 and 2001. I know that because it has the signature of Don Featherstone located on the rear underside. Featherstone is credited with designing the pink flamingo for Union Products in 1957, the year I turned 10. My pink flamingo lives in a two-handled plastic shopping basket atop a tall bookcase beside my bed, complete with artificial golden yellow roses around its slender neck.
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