This is another favorite of mine from the Lighted Lantern Festival, Moonlight Forest, at the Los Angeles Arboretum. This was huge--maybe 30 feet high--and I could only imagine how spectacular it would be lighted from within, in the darkness of night. I am not sure that the peacock is part of Chinese lore, but the arboretum has many wild peacocks that roam the gardens, so it is a symbol of this beautiful place. 11/30/19 Judith Sparhawk
On the way home from the Morro Bay trip, we stopped at the LA Arboretum in Arcadia, CA, in order to see two fairly "sure thing" birds, the Red-Whiskered Bulbul and an Allen's Hummingbird (yep, got them both). What we hadn't been aware of was a special event being held in the gardens, called Moonlight Forest. Although this is an after-dark event, we were able to walk around the gardens and see the installations. It is really an amazing event, with dozens of huge fabric "lanterns" designed and created by artisans from the Sichuan Province of China. Although the lanterns were not lighted in the daytime, just seeing them was incredible. This one is part of the Moon Goddess, one of the lanterns, which was about 20 feet high. Some were even larger--I will likely post some of my favorites in the next few days. I have not yet been able to obtain tickets to the evening event, and I may have to be satisfied with the daylight version. 11/29/19 Judith Sparhawk
