Friday, April 3, 2009

Ode to a (non)Grecian (non)Urn




Imagine these two lamps combined in some sort of conglomeration of primary colors. Red. Yellow. Blue. Green.

But, as far as your imaginings go, you'd have to go further still to do the Lamp justice. Huh? What lamp? The Zickefoose Lamp. The Lamp, the Myth, the Legend.

And elusive, I might add. Once on a covert operation to view and document the lamp, we were disrupted by the owners and having to dash to our car. A photo was taken, but it was ill fated - only a glimpse of light among darkness (a suitable metaphor for the Lamp, by the way).

This Lamp held a place of prominence in the community for decades. And most who were raised or moved to Ada have their Lamp Stories. If you've been in Ada and no one showed you the Lamp, then you should question the company you keep.

I was first introduced to the Lamp in college. My roommates, both born and raised in Ada, drove me by the Lamp after a night at the Regal Beagle (different myth and legend). My eyes bulged at the fabulosity of the Lamp. My heart skipped many beats. Ok, maybe that was the burger at the Beagle. But still, there were no words to do the Lamp justice.

So, now that those roommates have moved on to the big city, I've maintained the legacy of the Lamp. Forming a small sisterhood of protectiveness, we drive by and admire the Lamp on many occasions - not just El Campo Fiesta Nights.

When the world has seemed undone, there's always been that Lamp on E. Lincoln.

But now, our world has become unhinged. Sadly, the owners of the Lamp are now deceased. While there is allegedly bequeathed to a neighbor who was raised across the street from the Lamp (ok, it's more than alleged), the problem is that the Lamp is GONE! It is missing! It's orbness no longer glows from its beacon of safety and consistency on E. Lincoln.

While the proper ownership of the Lamp has been hotly debated, those concerns are set aside to find the Lamp, and return it to a place of honor and prominence as it deserves.

After all, where will the good people of Ada and its surrounding communities look, if not to The Lamp?

3 comments:

  1. Please...it is and always will be The Lamp.

    The Chosen One

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  2. It's true - it's not Ada w/out the lamp - it's never in your memory as good as you think it is - because each and every time I have driven by slowly to see the lamp - it has never ever been what I remembered - it's always been so much more. It saddens me that it is missing - you must find it. Forget the Greek Man for now . . . Find the lamp!

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  3. As an out-of-town visitor to Ada, I was honored with the requisite drive by sighting of The Lamp... So sorry to hear that it has gone awol -- absent without a lamp...

    Has the FBI been notified or at the very least Homeland Security. The Lamp must be found!

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