Many of you took a stab at answering Sunday's "What's Wrong With This Picture Post," and I have to say, the variety of answers was surprising, if not entertaining.
It's amazing what you can see, or not see, in a particular photograph.
The answer I was looking for came from Karen Goddard, the first to say "The Moose is gone."
Indeed, it is.
I noticed the missing moose just last week while walking downtown. Turns out it's been gone for several months – a casualty of Hurricane Sandy.
As a little bit of history, the Moose Myth was created and installed by artists Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein in 2010 as part of the annual Nashua International Sculpture Symposium. When I reached out to them over the weekend to discover the fate of the moose, this was the reply I got from Moerlein:
Dear Carol: The Moose "Myth" has echoed about Nashua for years and is below. But the final episode is thus:
Moose Myth Nashua was a mighty force of good. Overlooking the Nashua River this sculpture by The Myth Makers Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein welcomed the world to Nashua for three years. The gale of Huricane Sandy brought floods and a roar of wind. Moose Myth stood beside the river and saw distruction floating by. He heard a cry from below and saw the tiny son of his human friend caught in the current. Lifted by a gust of wind from his anchoring he lofted over the railing without regard for his own safety. Fighting the insistent currents he pushed the tiny child safely to shore just as he was pulled over the dam and into the waterfall and whirlpool below. He has never been seen again, but is remembered as a hero to the end.
Visiters to Centennial Park often report an erie and lingering bellow from downstream on black nights. They say it is a lovely deep and familiar sound that causes curiousity rather than fear. We believe it is the spirit of the Moose, still peacefully welcoming the changes and overseeing the steady growth of this great city of Nashua NH.
The Myth Makers Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein know that all sapling sculptures have a short life but trust that the memory of Moose Myth will reside in all those who knew the grand sculpture.
For those who missed the beginning of the Moose Myth, here's the back story, courtesy of Dodson and Moerlein:
The Moose Myth
There is a story told of twin moose brothers, each robust and noble, who shared the Northern Kingdom. One fine day they met in a glade and neither would yield. They charged and impacted with a resounding crash of angry power. In the ensuing battle they entangled antlers in a death lock. Unable to separate, they continued to battle. After days of throwing their enmeshed antlers and bodies about, unable to eat or drink, exhausted, they were on the brink of death. A small child came upon the feuding but now feeble twins and offered to free them, but only if they would promise to live in peace.
They thankfully accepted the offer.
Freed, the twins stood on two feet in honor of their human friend and lived their lives striving to solve conflicts with negotiation and compromise. They agreed that one would live by the sea and rule over the Portsmouth waterfront and all the bridges and seaways linking NH to the world. The other mighty moose would rule inland, near the confluence of the Nashua and Merrimack Rivers, majestically protecting the vital and diverse city of Nashua.
Two sculptures celebrate this myth.
(The other moose, created for Art Speak Overnight Art, was eventually moved to Maine then on to Concord, NH, where he is eager for a proper cremation, according to Moerlien. ("We do fire sculpture as well, and he has reached his stable life…, he said.)
Congratulations to Karen Goddard - email me and let me know what size shirt you'd like: carol.robidoux@patch.com
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