The Unicorn Song

During the Middle Ages the people of Europe believed that unicorns existed. The King James Version of the Bible uses the word unicorn eight times. Unicorn horns were often found in cabinets of curiosities in Medieval and Renaissance Europe.  They were most often examples of the distinctive straight spiral single tusk of the narwhal whale. They were brought into Europe as a very valuable trade item, and sold as horns from the legendary unicorn; being of ivory, they passed the various tests intended to spot fake unicorn horns. Elizabeth I of England kept a "unicorn horn" in her cabinet of curiosities.

In 1967 when I was just starting to pay attention to the radio, The Irish Rovers had a top 40 hit with "The Unicorn". It sold 8 million copies worldwide and reached #7 on the US charts. Here is a copy I found on YouTube.



Listening to The Unicorn Song always makes me smile.  I found out a couple of interesting things about the song.  The first interesting fact is that The Irish Rovers were a Canadian band.  They are still touring, almost 50 years later.  The song was written by Shel Silverstein, who was a cartoonist, poet, recording artist and is probably best known for his children's books.  He was a very eclectic songwriter, penning such songs as "A Boy Named Sue", and many of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show hits including "Sylvia's Mother" and "The Cover of the Rolling Stone".

This year I added another Unicorn themed album to my record collection, Helen Austin's Always Be A Unicorn.  I really enjoy Helen Austin's music.  I first became acquainted with her music through the song "Relay" which she wrote for Relay For Life.  This year she released her first children's album, "Always Be A Unicorn".  The record was nominated for a JUNO in the Children's Album of the Year category at Canada's Music Awards.

You can watch the YouTube video of the title track here.




The ABC Wednesday Meme is a fun way to see some great blogs.

Oregon Coast

A couple of years ago, my wife and I took a trip to the Oregon Coast for a family reunion. We flew out of Tulsa, Oklahoma in an ice storm. Our plane was late taking off and we had to jog through the airport in Denver to make our connecting flight. We just made it on the plane, but our suitcases didn't. The rest of the flight to Portland was uneventful.



It had been more than 10 years since I had visited the Northwest and the Oregon Coast. Although we had one very rainy day while we were there, the weather was lovely and we had one day of absolutely perfect weather with beautiful blue skies. We spent the day visiting Depoe Bay and the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.


DEPOE BAY, OREGON


YAQUINA HEAD LIGHTHOUSE


COBBLE BEACH

On Friday even though the weather was bad we had a great time. The stormy weather made the ocean very turbulent and it was great watching the waves splash at the spouting horns in Depoe Bay.


SPOUTING HORNS - DEPOE BAY, OREGON

Because of the wet weather we decided that it would be a good day to visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. The aquarium is excellent and we had a great time there.


JELLYFISH


SHARK TANK


FEEDING THE SHARKS


TIDE POOLS

Every morning I enjoyed walking along the beach as the sun rose. Our condo that was so graciously provided for us by the Boyds had beach access. I love the sights and sounds of the ocean.


FOOTPRINTS ON THE BEACH


WAVES AS THE SUN COMES UP


EARLY MORNING MOON OVER THE OCEAN

The only thing more beautiful than the beach and waves rolling in first thing in the morning is seeing the beautiful sunsets over the ocean as the sun is going down.


THE BEACH AT SUNSET

We had a wonderful time for the four days we were able to spend on the Oregon coast. My wife and I both love the ocean. The family reunion was lovely and we enjoyed visiting with everyone. Everyone we met made us feel welcome; well almost everyone.


TOURIST SEASON

Here is a video montage of our trip to the Oregon Coast. The music is Take Me Away by Helen Austin. You can check out her music here.




The ABC Wednesday Meme is a fun way to see some great blogs.