Come Fly With Me Sammy...to Vermont!

Meows from Mudpie!

Today we're participating in a fun blog hop hosted by Madi and Easy for my sweet friend Sammy from One Spoiled Cat. Sammy is dealing with the effects of aging and has not felt well for some time. He is purring for a few more good days with his peeps and is hopeful that with his vet's help he can rally a bit. Sammy is known for his Tuesday Teasers, where he posts a photo taken from somewhere around this great big world and then challenge us to guess where the picture was taken. Sammy and his peeps love virtual and real travel.

For this hop we've been asked to find a place in our city, state, country or home that we think Sammy would love to visit. Here's what we picked!

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I live in Vermont, and let's face it, we're known for being a bit weird. There's even a marketing campaign that uses the phrase "Keep Vermont Weird," and it's a title we wear as a badge of honor. (A great article about our beautiful state's quirkiness can be found here.)

But one of the strangest things you'll see in Vermont is right in my town of South Burlington and has become a landmark of sorts...whale tails on the side of Interstate 89 between Exits 12 and 13.

Photo: Wikipedia Commons/Niranjan Arminius

Wait a minute. Sea creatures in New England's only landlocked state???

Actually, it's a statue called "Reverence" created by Jim Sardonis in 1989. The sculpture depicts two tails of whales "diving" into a sea of grass and is meant to symbolize the fragility of the planet. The tails were made from 36 tons of African black granite and stand 12-13 feet tall, and reside on property known as Technology Park where Ben & Jerry's ice cream has its corporate headquarters.

The sculpture is on the cover of at least two books, Weird New England by Joseph A. Citro and the art history textbook A World of Art by Henry Sayre.

Whaddya think, Sammy? Wanna come see the whale tails in purrson?

Note from Mommy:

One of the hosts of this fun hop, Easy Rider, had to unexpectedly go the Bridge shortly after planning this event. We didn't know Easy well but did know what a beloved part of the pet blogosphere he was. Life can change in a heartbeat. After losing Truffles within the span of 2 hours I know that all too well. My heart is breaking for his family because I remember the shock of losing a pet so tragically and suddenly.