Tuesday, August 16, 2011

ABC Wednesday
August 17th, 2011

E is the letter this week

E is for Eeyore, the Endearing, gloomy-doomy friend of Winnie the Pooh.   An old grey donkey with a long detachable tail around which is tied a lovely pink ribbon which he loses quite regularly.  The pink ribbon, I mean.  Owl once found it and used it as a door pull, making Eeyore even sadder than usual.

Eeyore lives in the southeast corner of the Hundred Acre Wood where he has a house of sticks which is continually falling down.  This area of the  Hundred Acre Wood is called Eeyore's Gloomy Place: Rather Boggy and Sad.

Of course he has a repertoire of rather despondent quotes arising from his anhedonic outlook on life and his  poor opinion of the other animals in the woods, describing them as having 'no brain at all, some of them' 'only grey fluff that's blown into their heads by mistake'.

From Winnie the Pooh, a poignant quote - "The old grey donkey, Eeyore stood by himself in a thistly corner of the Forest, his front feet well apart, his head on one side, and thought about things.  Sometimes he thought sadly to himself, "'Why" and sometimes he thought, "wherefore" and sometimes he thought, "Inasmuch as which?" and sometimes he didn't quite know what he was thinking about".

At such times he was probably eating thistles, his favourite food.

Christopher Robin and the other animals tried to cheer Eeyore with a Birthday Party.  He was given an empty honey jar from Pooh, a popped green balloon from Piglet, and a note from Owl.  Piglet and Roo seem to be having a merry time while Eeyore looks quizzical and not sure what to think about the Happy Birthday cake.


Be that as it may, Eeyore's birthday party lives on in Austin, Texas on the last Saturday of April each year.

It started in 1963 as a spring party for students of the University of Texas but after a few years it morphed into a full blown Festival, a tradition in Austin's hippie subculture.  The original event featured a trashcan full of lemonade, beer, honey sandwiches, a live flower-draped donkey and a may pole.

When the festival moved to Pease Park in 1974 Austin area non profit Friends of the Forest began arranging for food and drink vendors, public services and scheduling live music and family-oriented games and contests.  Although family oriented in some parts of the Park it is also known for its adult entertainment, - drum circles, scanty costumes, sweet smoke, modern hippies and an annual attendance in the thousands.




Eeyore would switch his tail slowly and mutter 'I wonder what next!!!!'

For more great E's visit here at ABC Wednesday, with thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and her wonderful helpers.


13 comments:

Dimple said...

I grew up on Winnie the Pooh. I won't say Eeyore was my favorite character, because I don't remember.

I never heard of the festival in Austin before reading your post, however, it sounds like fun!

Gigi Ann said...

Awww yes who could forget Eeyoue, he is such a cutie.

Roger Owen Green said...

now I have that damn song HOUSE AT POOH CORNER stuck in my head!
ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Leslie: said...

What a neat thing to do there! My daughters loved everything about Winnie the Pooh, including all the characters. My older one still has her Tigger stuffed animal and I do recall they had Eeyore and Piglet, along with Winnie.

Leslie
abcw team

Sylvia K said...

Oh, I Love Eeyore! What a fun post for the E Day, Hildred! Hope your week is going well!

Sylvia

Tumblewords: said...

Excellent post for E day. The festival looks interesting, to be sure!

Chubskulit Rose said...

We love watching winnie the pooh.

Epcot's Spaceship Earth, please come and see.

Reader Wil said...

I like your post very much for I also liked the Winnie the Pooh stories too. When I was a child I read of course Dutch children books, but when I was an adult I read a lot of English children books. Sometimes I think that they are actually written for adults.

Carver said...

Great shots from the party. I love Eeyore. He was always my favorite Winnie the Poo character.

photowannabe said...

Love, love, love Eeyore. Thanks for the storyline.
Never heard of the Texas festival but I'm sure Eeyore would be completely confused by all of it.

Jess PJ said...

How cool to have such a loud party for Eyeore's birthday when he's such a sedate guy!
I love the Hundred Acre Wood.

Joy said...

Eeyore's grumbles never fail to make me smile. A wonderful book.

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

I love Eeyore, partly because he is so gloomy, poor love. What a marvellous idea to celebrate his birthday and I am glad it is in Aprl because that is my birthday month although mine is nearer the beginning. Thank you Hildred for these lovely reminders of a lifelong "friend". A x