Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The Roving Rudolph Mystery

Several months ago…it might have been sometime in July…I was driving  through my neighborhood when I spotted a large white wooden reindeer peeking out from behind a tree in someone’s yard. 

I’m sure you know the kind.  This is not the actual reindeer but it looked sort of like this…

Plain.  And white.

reindeerlarge

At the time, I assumed someone was getting a jump on their Christmas decorating, albeit a bit early, but hey, some people leave their Christmas lights up all year so why not put a Christmas reindeer out in the heat of summer?  Whatever floats your boat, right?

The next time I drove down that street, I noticed the reindeer was in a different  yard.  “Hmmm…that’s odd,” I thought. 

A few days later, the reindeer had moved again and was  in yet another yard…several blocks down the street from where I had seen him last!

Then I noticed “Rudolph” had a red nose.  And then at some point, he started wearing clothes!  It would appear that every time he moves to a different yard, he is adorned with some type of apparel or “fashionable accessory.” 

Finally, a few weeks ago I decided to start taking pictures of Rudolph when I see him in a new location.

Here he is wearing a straw hat, a colorful tropical shirt, and a Tampa Bay Rays (our baseball team) bandana.  (Doesn’t he look like he’s on vacation?  But what better place to vacation than Florida before it’s time to head back to the North Pole to help Santa in a couple months?)

IMG_1962 

Here he is in another yard wearing furry white slippers (or gloves?) on his hind feet, pink and white striped socks on his front feet, “Groucho” glasses, and someone has added a Tampa Bay Rays flag.

IMG_2153 (C&E) 

Here he seems to have lost the furry slippers and the Tampa Bay Rays flag but he gained a red feather in his hat, a black Halloween flag (or cape?), orange garland, and a  University of Florida gator mascot sticker or decal on his side.

IMG_2247 (C&E)

Last week, Rudolph appeared to be missing for a few days…or at least I wasn’t able to  spot him.  Perhaps he had traveled to one of the yards on one of the adjacent streets, I don’t know. 

But today he was back, wearing something blue and yellow and feathery on his head.  He’s starting to look a bit scary, don’t you think?

IMG_2248 (C&E)

This Roving Rudolph is a mystery and certainly leaves me wondering several things like…

Who is the person with the sense of humor who started this? 

Who moves him?  When he has a layover in someone’s yard, does the homeowner move him to a different yard of their choice?

Or… does some unknown person come in the cover of darkness and move him from yard to yard? 

And will Rudolph disappear on Christmas Eve, never to be seen again?

If that happens, I’ll be sort of sad to see him go.  I’ve started to look forward to seeing if I can  find Rudolph  and spot his newest accessory every time I drive down this particular street.

8 comments:

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

Now girl that is so funny I would love to see something like that in our neighborhood...too dang cute my friend...OMG your kitchen looks wonderful girl..Sorry I have been out of state taking care of my daughter who just had surgery who I didn't get to come by and leave a comment then...Take care my Dear friend...Oh come by I'm having my second year blogging party...Hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

deb said...

Be sure to keep us posted on this!

Cindy said...

It sounds like somebody is having a lot of fun. I wish someone would start that in our neighborhood and no it won't be me.
Hugs, Cindy

Jocelyn said...

This is too funny. I've never seen anyone doing something like this. The start of the holiday happenings :-)

Jocelyn
http://justalittlesouthernhospitality.blogspot.com/

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Haha... someone had a good sense of humor. I hope you get to the bottom of the mystery some day so you can share it with us.

In the meantime, I wonder if it will ever show up in your yard. You should put up a sign that says Deer Welcome Here.


:)
ButterYum

Pink Roses and Teacups said...

Shari,

that is too funny!! I like the idea though! Someone does have a great sense of humor!

Debbie

Betty said...

I could not stop laughing as I read about Rudolph and his moving around and changing clothes. You must keep us updated on his journey.

Willow

Anonymous said...

Hi Shari, I have a new blog: pinkmarshmallowpie@wordpress.com and I hope you will check it out!
Our neighbors started something like this with some cardboard pink flamingoes a couple of years back and it was so much fun to see where they would show up. They went awol for a while and must have been on another street but eventually made it back before going through a bad storm and finally having to be retired! It was all the talk on the neighborhood website as well! Thanks for sharing and reminding me of the flamingoes! Jennifer Grenko