It might have been because I had succumbed to an afternoon
nap, and was feeling kind of dreamy. But the combinations of sights and sounds this
evening really made me smile. You see, I only went out for a stamp, but then I
wandered inside the mall to buy some sorbet for my other half. And then I heard
them, low moans and groans ... animals with constipation, I thought.
The main mall music was something
from the charts – and it clashed with the groans as badly as chilli sauce on meringue
– but I had to stop and peer down into the basement.
You see, it’s school holidays
here and United Square being the mall that entertains and educates kids (as
well as clothing and feeding them), there are all sorts of surprises. This one
really did surprise me. I wasn’t going to cry, like one toddler, or point and
gurgle, like another, but I did have to lean over the balcony and gawp. And
that’s when the music changed.
The Last
Waltz – we all know the song by Engelbert Humperdinck. Love it or loath it,
it’s as stubborn as a ... whatever stubborn thing you can think of. Even now,
twenty minutes on, it’s playing in my head – including the line that goes tra la
la la la la la la la. That takes some writing!
So what’s
she on about? What was going on? Well, dinosaurs, of course. The moans and
groans came from life-size models with moving heads and limbs, smoke and
lights, arranged around the basement like a zoo. Very realistic. At least to me
and the surrounding toddlers. Not especially scary – the bright lights and the
music put paid to that. But fascinating. As I said, maybe I was in a dreamy
mood, no need to rush home to cook, as the other half’s flight has been
delayed. And I would have stayed longer, gazing at the nodding triceratops and
the flying pterodactyls, and humming along to Humperdinck, only thankfully I
remembered the sorbet ... and the sorry state it would be in if I stayed too
long.
And then finally the short walk
home which was all the shorter thanks
to that song and the thought of Mr E waltzing with one of those friendly extinct
folk.
Thank you
dinosaurs, thank you Mr E, you’ve made my evening.
Tra la la
la la la la la la la!
