Narwhals, A Tale For The Holidays

After working a seasonal job at a holiday arts bazaar. I realized my love for the elusive narwhal is by no means unique. This lovable, mysterious beast has captured the fancy of many an artist in the land locked, hilly territory of Austin TX.  I saw narwhal cards, narwhal laser wood cut outs a narwhal mobile and a 3D ornament all sporting the unicorn of the sea. Feeling a little demoralized by seeing how popular my special animal was I still bought two of the pretty laser cutouts of this beast. One I got for me to pin to my inspiration wall and one for a friend who in the past had crushed out on the romanticness of this living, mythical beast.

My love for the narwhal began as a child. When I was around 7 years old my family and I went on a whaling adventure boat right off of Cape Cod MA. There is a picture from this era, my brother looking like an 80's hipster, shaggy black hair, muscle tea and blue Velcro sneaks. Me in a aqua windbreaker with rainbows crawling up the sleeves, long blonde hair pulled back in two barrettes. We both are pressed up against an uncomfortable looking white boat bench squinting with the sun in our eyes and looking kind of queasy. My mom told me later she gave us some sort of anti-nausea medicine for our first boat trip, the down side was it made us very sleepy. I remember the lurching boat and stumbling around feeling vaguely dream like.

Two hump back whales appeared in view, their long barnacled snouts just cresting the deep blue waves. It was enchanting watching these giant creatures up close just under our feet breaching the surface in all their immense glory. From what I recall the majority of the group of people on the boat were being dazzled by the humpbacks and scanning the water for more chance to observe them. I walked shakily across to the other side hoping to be one of the first to see a whale on the other side of the ship. That is when it appeared.

At first I could not tell what I was looking at, was it a giant icicle coming out of the ocean? What was that solid white thorn poking into the air, at first on the horizon then coming up close to our boat almost knocking into it. I rubbed my foggy eyes hoping to un-cloud my brain and really take in this bazaar sight. The horn of the narwhal. In my kid fantasy version of the story I am the only one to spot it, I don't say anything and just take it in. Though I can't imagine not telling anyone at the time and also the crew of the boat not saying anything. Also how could I have even known about the narwhal in the first place? I vaguely remember my parents giving me a print out of the whales we might see that day and thinking how outlandish and otherworldly the narwhal was.

The question is did I make this up? Did I dream up seeing an actual narwhal as a young person in the North Atlantic Ocean? Was this some kind of anti-nausea medication induced hallucination? The answer is I am sticking to it. I believe I really saw a narwhal horn. This event has kept me linked to this amazing unicorn of the sea my whole life. I have a deep connection with whales and this early memory will stay with me for the rest of my days.

I am really not surprised that others have caught onto the charms of this fascinating beast, especially in the hearts of us land locked southerners. I do love telling the artists that make these effigy's that a dreamy, determined child actually got to see one of the cherished beasts we all adore.

Happy Holidays Dear Readers!