Chihuly Night Owl Magic

Visiting the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix to see the Chihuly installations by day was great. I loved every minute. But my friends and I had planned carefully. We'd chosen the 4-8pm shift so that we could enjoy the exhibit by day and also by night.

Photo by D.R. Ransdell

The images that had dazzled us a couple of hours earlier were even more mysterious and wondrous by night. (The lighting effects were excellent.) Thus we went through the whole exhibit all over again, taking photographs as best we could.

These purple columns looked like they belonged on the moon! During the day they had snaked up from the grass pleasantly enough, but by night, they were Halloween, they were imagination, they were outer-wordly!

Photo by D.R.

So was the boat floating in the lagoon. It was quiet, peaceful, and nearly unbelievable. You wanted to reach out and touch it. You wanted to wade right there in the water and swoosh the boat gently from side to side.

Photo by D.R.

Instead we merely walked around, marveling at the glass and the color and the lights. We were so thankful we had enough time to get all the way around the exhibit.

Photo by D.R.

It was a Saturday, and as we left, other people were arriving for the nighttime viewing, which is from 8pm to midnight on selected Saturdays. I was amazed and thrilled by how many people were pouring in to see the exhibit. And here I thought Chihuly and his work were little-known secrets!

Photo by D.R.

If you can possibly get to the exhibit, you'll be well rewarded.  (It goes through mid-May.) Whether by day or by night (and hopefully by both), you're sure to find a dazzling array of images. They'll sparkle your imagination. You might not ever want to leave.

Photo by D.R.

For THAI TWIST, a novel that makes use of my traveling adventures, please check out my website, http://www.dr-ransdell.com