This majesty of imagination now greets me at the top of the stairs every time I climb to my loft office. 
By Mike Johnson
A moose antler is a rare and precious find.
I live in moose country, have traipsed hundreds of miles in national forests and have never found one.
I’ve found moose tracks, moose poop and even live moose, but never a moose antler.
In comparison, I’ve found dozens of mule deer antlers. Deer enjoy much larger populations than moose, but still.
We know an antler artist with a studio/store in our valley. You find it behind his huge pile of antlers along the roadside.
He creates and sells those stunning high-end antler chandeliers you see in the spectacular log home mansions showcased in glossy magazines.
But he also dabbles in smaller pieces.
Like moose antlers.
Some call them paddles due to the webbed nature of the antler.
Like deer and elk, moose shed their antlers naturally every year between January and March.
Most people who appreciate the natural beauty of moose paddles, display them naked.
But artists aren’t “most people.”
They've trained themselves to see something better in something that is already great.
To do this, they keep looking deeper, even after they’ve identified the great.
Most people stop when they see the great.
They believe they’ve identified the fullest definition and move on to the next thing.
This misses the fantastic, the amazing and the miraculous.
My artist kept looking until he saw the magnificent bald eagle hidden inside this great moose paddle.
More so, he saw this eagle soaring upon fully extended moose paddle wings.
Some carving, a little white paint and a simple leather strap brought his vision to life.
This majesty of imagination now greets me at the top of the stairs every time I climb to my loft office.
It’s beautiful.
It’s inspiring.
It’s art.
It’s also a reminder.
There is always something better, hidden beneath the surface of something great.
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