I haven’t written to you lately. Forgive me. Sometimes reality blows in under the front door, right under the weather stripping, and eventually you look over and see it all piled up and you sigh a heavy sigh and complain to whomever is nearby and then moan a little too loudly as you get up to do something about it. Anyway, that is my weak excuse for not posting on my blog for too long.
I want to talk to you about moose, again. We’ve had a lot of them come by lately, and they always cause a stir. They are ridiculously big, up to 1500 pounds. They are so odd looking that they’re handsome. Their antlers are an affront to commonsense. It’s like they’re carrying a sheet of plywood on their head with a bike rack on top. This is why they are celebrities in ways that deer could never be. Deer are elegant. Moose are outrageous. This is a moose from a photographer in Alaska, Paul Tessier. I raise one of those cans of jellied cranberries in salute. What a specimen.
They live across North America, northern Europe, northern Asia and are making a bit of a comeback in Central Europe. They used to live as far as south as the Pyrenees, the range of mountains that divides France from Spain. I suspect the people of Spain would have welcomed the moose too, but the Pyrenees also keep those nice French people in France, where they belong, so it all works out. Moose are also expanding their range across the prairies and down into the Dakotas. Moose don’t lack in confidence. They may soon be lolling about in Central Park.
Moose also don’t seem to belong here. I don’t mean that they aren’t well adapted to life on this earth, they are. Few animals are more resilient. They are just so different from the other animals that I can’t help but wonder if they may have slipped through from Narnia where they return to often and speak in complete sentences and are regarded reverently for their great crown. According to legend they used to be.
Like moose, Google also goes anywhere. In my searching I came across a Swedish fairy tale known as Princess Tuvstarr and the Moose Guardian (and known by several other similar names). This story and several others were captured in print more than a hundred years ago by a Swedish artist named John Bauer. Importantly, Bauer was a brilliant artist and it was his illustrations that helped make these stories wildly popular.
This one features a moose named Leap (also known as “Skutt”) and beautiful, fair-haired Princess Tuvstarr (which in English is the utterly charming Princess Cottongrass). I won’t ruin the story for you. Let’s just say that Leap is wise, brave, and honourable as he and Princess Cottongrass encounter nasty elves and a witch. You’d be proud to have Leap as a friend.
You will probably not believe this but as I sat writing this in a chair overlooking the river my dad pulled up for his regular evening visit and glass of wine, and he told me he had something for us in the back seat. I reached back there and pulled out a reusable shopping bag. Inside was a framed piece of art, painted by Walter Jackson, an Indigenous artist and a senior who happens to live in the same building as dad. It was this picture of a moose. Dad had attached a note, “For those days when the moose doesn’t show up”.
Well, his timing was perfect, as is the picture. Mr. Jackson is a talented artist. I’m thrilled to give up some wall space to such a well-crafted tribute to a moose. Perhaps, we’ll call him Leap.
This is one of many moose who likes to splash in the river across from our house
Let us now return to the gifted, but troubled and ultimately tragic figure, John Bauer. Bauer and his family were to take up residence in Stockholm. A recent and well publicized train accident made Bauer leery of train travel so on the night of November 19th, 1918 he and his family set out by ferry for Stockholm, travelling across Lake Vattern. A storm came up and the top-heavy ferry flipped over claiming Bauer, his family, and all 24 people on board. The newspapers fed superstitious reader’s beliefs with suggestions that the mythological beings of the forest had taken their revenge on Bauer. No one can say for sure. I would say that the elves, witches, fairies, trolls, and beasts of the woods should have been flattered that they were portrayed so winsomely by John Bauer and his delicate brush.
Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving