What do you get a concrete goose for a graduation present?
Only a few blocks from where I live sits a sign that graduation time is at hand: Yes, I’m talking about a concrete goose dressed in mortarboard and gown.
The concrete goose in front of a house on Long Avenue in Beaumont, Texas, is dressed by its caretakers for whatever the occasion is at hand. It was made to look like the Easter Bunny around Easter time. I remember after Hurricane Rita the goose was wearing tattered clothes as if it had been through, well, a hurricane. Just recently Concrete Goose wore a spring ensemble that included a bonnet.
I’ve seen no figures to indicate just how many people dress up their concrete geese or ducks or lawn jockeys or gorillas. I remember this concrete gorilla in Waco named Darwin that gets decked out for different occasions. I also don’t know if the people who have Darwin in their yard bought it from what was Double D Statuary just south of Waco on I-35 in Eddy, Texas. Austin American-Statesman columnist John Kelso wrote after visiting the purveyors of everything concrete that one of their apes bore a resemblance to President Gee Dubya. If it is one of the creatures found on the aforementioned link, I don’t really see it. However, I do think the concrete banana gorilla looks somewhat like President Eisenhower.
Each time I see Concrete Goose in a new costume I can’t help but laugh. It’s great to know folks in your neighborhood have a sense of humor. Now if I can just figure out what to get the goose that has everything for a graduation present.