Oh my

Alright, guys, how could I fully share our South Dakota experience with you and not share one of the most interesting, profound, confusing, unique things I’ve ever seen?  I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t.  I just love you too much.  Much too much.

As I mentioned yesterday, we had kind of a long drive to the Badlands from our cabins outside of Rapid City.  We were driving for over an hour on a two-lane divided highway passing a lot of nothingness along the way.  I had no idea how close or far we were from the Badlands Park at the time, but it ended up being pretty close.

We stopped at an oasis: a gas station.  We all piled out of our cars and got some snack items inside while some of us filled our gas tanks. 

One thing stopped me dead in my tracks on the way inside the store.  It was this curious creature:

Not Dylan, the horse.

I was so perplexed by this piece of artwork.

What was it doing there?

Where did it come from?

What was the purpose?

Could I sit on it?

Only one of the answers became immediately clear to me.

Wha?

A cross prominently on the horse’s blue head.

Native Americans dancing in full regalia on this side and…

But wait… that’s not Mount Rushmore!

What is it?

No, seriously, what is it?  Who is it supposed to be?

At this point, I was so confused, so mesmerized, I just stood and stared.

Regrettably, here are some of the thoughts I honestly had (upon first glance, this was a process trying to figure it out): Are these the presidents when they were younger?  Ok, no, I eliminated that as a possibility.  Is it other famous people from South Dakota?  When those people were younger?  Is there some kind of kid group from South Dakota, like the Jackson 5?  I honest-to-goodness thought those things.

I finally stepped away, speechless, and headed into the store.  I got a few snacks, went to the restroom and nearly left, but something stopped me.

I walked up to the cashier and said, “What in the world is up with that horse?”

In a nice way, of course.

She seemed quite proud of it.  I walked away not exactly sure, but with a general impression of that this is what the horse is about:  South Dakota has a rich Native American history, that part makes sense.  I don’t know exactly what the cross is about, but I’d guess it’s for the church or Christians.  And the Mount Rushmore thing is an interesting one…  Yes, it’s supposed to pay homage to the actual monument, but what is portrayed on the mountain instead are portraits of disabled kids.  Yes.  That’s right.

Whoa.  So apparently, someone painted the horse blue and added the images on it and auctioned it off or otherwise used it as a fundraiser to raise money for disabled kids in the area.  And maybe that was a Christian organization, because of the cross?  And the gas station must have won or bought the horse where it is now proudly displayed.  With no explanation, only instructions not to sit on it.

I felt kind of bad for thinking the painting was so ridiculous.  After all, it benefitted disabled kids!  But, I also think that a placard is called for.  Big time.