Thursday, January 17, 2008

Let There Be White



During my years in DC I've seen activists dressed up in many different kinds of costumes. Political activism, at least for lefties, involves a tremendous amount of street theater.

But I'm sure I've never seen people dressed as polar bears before today. Ran into them on my way to work, before the snow began. They were headed to the Capitol, of course.

Am I suddenly scanning for polar bears, since my dream the other day? Or is there a polar bear spirit hanging around? Is it a coincidence? Because you can't plan to have a dream like that then subsequently cross paths with people from Texas, dressed as polar bears. The line between dreamscape and "real" life sometimes gets a little unglued.

I like the purse hanging around the shoulder of the bear on the right. She's got it all together.

About 10 minutes after I took this picture, it began to snow, heavily at times, though we also had rain and sleet. Still, it was winter precipitation, nice and cold. It seemed like a hopeful portent for the polar bears. I hope so.

15 comments:

Barbara said...

I think this is a sign you still need to see The Golden Compass.

Washington Cube said...

I went for a walk in the woods watching the fat gloppy flakes. It was heaven.

lettuce said...

yes i hope so too.

I like her bag - and her pink zip.
:o)

(btw pod has moved house again and is without internet connection)

mouse (aka kimy) said...

save the polar bears, save the world!

grrrrrrrr

Bobby D. said...

And look at the street the polar bears are standing on--looks gorgeous.

Lucky it was cold, and did these polar bears believe you had a dream about them?

It was not a coincidence. --these polar bears !

Steve Reed said...

Hmmm. Blogger ate my comment. Let's try again...

Polar bears DO need more visibility, so bravo to these two. Now the bears need to hire a good lobbyist!

dennis said...

Dennis wonders if global warming will effect fish availability.

Unknown said...

You dream bears, you see bears - methinks the universe is trying to tell you something :-)

I have had powerful polar bear dreams - so I went out and "adopted" one - and a polar bear image is my screensaver. They need our help, they have things to tell us.

Reya Mellicker said...

The polar bears completely believed I'd had the dream, especially when my voice got shaky and I shed a tear, telling them that the thought of the polar bears drowning literally hurts my heart.

But they're activists, in other words, always on the make. They immediately asked me to call the House and say I'm from somewhere that matters (not DC where we have no say in Congress ... grrr) and ask them to vote on some bill that will help the polar bears.

I did it! I called the subcommittee on climate change and said I was from Kansas City (I am ... orginally at least). Didn't read how the House voted ... but I hope someone can do something to help these magnificent creatures. Polar bears are my brothers. It is literally painful to think of them dying out.

Reya Mellicker said...

Ched, that's 5th Street NE, between C and D, just a block north of Stanton Park. Definitely not as swanky as many parts of Capitol Hill, but pretty anyway.

Washington Cube said...

Something about that bag makes me think Teletubbies.

Pod said...

hello!
i am slowly returning. i have been sleeping on reypod, dreaming of polar bears. denying the fact i had to move house AGAIN! get this, i saw a polar bear ornament the other day, made by an artist, and i went to back to buy it but the place was closed. what is going on? they are calling us for help.

happy evolution this year my lovely friends!
xx

Reya Mellicker said...

Pod I'm so glad you're back! Sorry you had to move again - yikes. That last pic you published before you took your winter hibernation on reypod, the interplanetary pic with the bald man, wow, was that prophetic!

IntangibleArts said...

There's something decidedly WICKERMAN-esque about the shot... or maybe you ran into a pair of classic Pookas (though, not of the giant rabbit variety) -- Some sort of magical animal spirit that roams the streets and conjures sudden, temporary freak snow-storms. yeh?

Also: can't quite decide if Bear no.2 is displaying peace sign or the a british off-flipping.

I'm reminded of a similar magical encounter of mine, summer of '05, in Alaska...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/intangible/26325729/

lettuce said...

pookas! yes!