Saturday, March 27, 2010

The White Unicorn


In the wee hours of the morning on the coldest day of the year I heard our motion detector go off in our driveway. I got up to see what had set it off. I couldn't imagine who or what would be out on such a cold night. I opened the bathroom window rather than the front door and I heard very heavy footsteps crunching on the frozen ground. Then I saw a pure white horse walking in our front yard. I shook my head thinking I must be seeing things. Then I saw a brown horse following, and then a black one. In my half awake state all I could think of was the horses were going to eat my landscaping and I yelled,"Yaw, yaw", loudly and the horses trotted off around the corner.




Then I thought better of what I had done thinking the horses must have gotten loose from a barn or pasture. So I ran to wake Gary up to help me round up the horses. Gary and I got our clothes on and went outside. We looked all around but the horses had disappeared. We looked for hoof prints, but the ground was so frozen we couldn't see any. Gary turned to me and said, "Are you sure you saw a white horse?". I said yes, I saw a white horse and two others too. We called the local sheriff in case someone was missing their horses. We lived on a main road and didn't want anyone to hit the horses if they drove by. Later Gary said, "You must have seen a white unicorn!" He started kidding me about seeing a unicorn. Later I told the story to some folks and word spread quickly about the story of the white unicorn.




A week later everyone in town was asking me about seeing a white unicorn. Months went by and everyone in town still asked me about seeing a white unicorn. I kept insisting I had seen a white horse, not a unicorn. Then during the summer I learned a neighbor was boarding three horses nearby. I drove over to see the horses. One horse was black, one was brown and one was white. I asked if the horses had ever gotten loose and they confirmed the horses had gotten loose on the coldest day of the winter. I was finally able to prove I had seen a white horse.


This morning we drove through Ocala, Florida and saw some colorful horses in the town square. The public art is called Horse Fever and the sculptures reminded me of my unicorn story. So I decided to make a tile of a unicorn this afternoon. I am almost out of white slip, so this is an emerald unicorn. I'd like to make a few more unicorns, especially a white one, as a reminder of how much fun everyone in town had kidding me about the unicorn I saw. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

12 comments:

  1. I like the painted horses! The did the same thing here with carabao (water buffalo). It was a promotion by the visitors bureau to appeal to the tourists. They placed them around the island in various places and the tourists check them off on a map as they visit the sites. By taking the completed map to the bureau, they received a prize.
    Love that Unicorn!

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  2. i knew it wasn't a unicorn, i just knew it. we have lifesize horses all over town... you know, the kentucky derby. when they suggested it, i thought it was a good idea but the companies that bid on the horses ended up having a say in the way they were painted and now there's a bunch that are just advertisements in the shape of a horse.

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  3. In Anchorage we have the Wild Salmon on Parade and for the Fur Rondy we had Sled Dogs. I think now all the art animals might be getting to be a bit much(?) Did it all start with the Pike Place Pigs in Seattle, or the Cow Parade in Missouri?? Kind of like the craze over rubber bracelets -who would have thunk it?!

    Linda -I think you did see a white Unicorn :o) and now you will forever be lucky!

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  4. Hi Mr. Young, thanks about the unicorn; hopefully it turns out, never sure what will happen to the colored slip especially since this is a new clay I am using, I think public art is so important, would love to see one of those water buffalo.

    Hi Jim, thanks, too bad the idea became commercial. I know animals are overdone, but anything that can bring attention to art and the artists in the public's eye I think is important.

    Hi Cindy, thanks, yes perhaps the animals are a bit overdone, but still it keeps art in the public eye and for many it may be the only time or place they think or see it which is a good thing. Not only that but the animals are brought into the spotlight too.

    I hope I will be lucky because of the white unicorn, I truly have been in my life so far, thanks.

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  5. Loved your unicorn story and glad you solved the mystery. Ocala is such a horse crazy town with all the breeding farms that the decorated horses seem to fit.

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  6. Cool story...well is it offical yet living in Florida?

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  7. Thanks Linda..made me smile..such colourful horses. ;)and like the unicorn.
    T.

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  8. Hi Patti, thanks, I figured you'd enjoy the horses having lived near Ocala.

    Hi Mary, thanks, middle of next week we move in, I'll post about that.

    Hi Trish, thanks, glad you liked the story and the unicorn.

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  9. Ha, your white unicorn reminded me of my flying trousers! We were at a friend's place on a very windy day. The house was on a hill in Dunedin. I looked out the window in the afternoon and saw a pair of men's trousers flying past! The funny thing was that no one would believe me. We all were drinking a little whiskey at the time and my friends put it down to the perils of strong drink! But it really was a pair of trousers!

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  10. Hi Peter, thanks, it must have been a really windy day, Ha! You have reminded me of another story of when I lived in Arkansas. I worked at a real estate office on the main street and was in the broker's office talking to him and I heard a horse galloping and all of a sudden I saw a race horse galloping down main street. I just stood staring because I couldn't believe my eyes. then everyone in the offices came running to see the horse. Apparently a race horse had escaped from his jockey from the Oaklawn race track right down the street and it was galloping down the street without a rider. It was eventually caught, but sometimes when you see something incongruous in front of your eyes it takes a minute or two to believe it.

    I was just thinking there must be some famous artist who does paintings like this - your pants flying by would be a great painting.

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  11. Love your unicorn story...knew it would have a horse ending...but what fun getting there! I read where animals about began with the sculptured cows in Berlin. Also read your comment about the horse running down the street, LOL, and, again, great fun to read. Thanks!

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  12. Hi Kittie, thanks, I am unfamiliar with the sculpted cows in Berlin, I must look that one up. Glad you enjoyed the stores.

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