Meandering

1,000 Words

Mon, January 02, 2012

For the rest of this month I’m going to take the easy way out and dust off a project that I put together about a year before I wound up joining the blogosphere.

Several years ago (spring of 2008 to be precise), I spotted the above picture on the mantle at my sister’s house and it immediately brought a smile to my face.  Inspiration simultaneously struck me in the good old cartoonish light bulb fashion as that particular moment, frozen in time by the photograph, brought to mind the old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” 

Well, as a wannabe writer, it sounded like it was worth a try. 

I then decided to pick five of my all time favorite outdoor photos (the other four are scattered below), just let it roll and see what happened.  At the time I was pretty certain what pictures I would write about although these days the list would likely have to be expanded based on further adventures with my ever growing family.  However, when the image of the group of hearty young trappers/coonhunters (below) proved to be more elusive than I anticipated, I wound up combing through decades of family pictures.  My search was not in vain as the image in my mind truly did exist on paper. And while the other four photos proved to be much easier to track down, the search for the lost photo was quite rewarding and entertaining.  Even so, I found that my five original selections were still my personal favorites for the series.

And with a touch of editing in order to get a few details up to date for 2012, here’s how it all turned out.  Following this introduction, January will feature a picture and a posting each Tuesday as a part of a series I call “1,000 Words.”

Over the years I’ve amassed quite a collection of photographs, with a significant increase upon becoming an uncle, then a husband and now a father.  A camera has been a regular companion in the outdoors, at home or when gathering with family and friends for many years.  As a result, I’ve got numerous baggies of photos stored away that eventually need to find their way into photo albums.  Oddly enough, the photo at top from 2004 that set this series into motion back in 2008 still happens to represent the last day of pictures that I have managed to place into my outdoor adventure collection.  Is it a coincidence that our oldest child is seven years old and I’m seven years behind on organizing my photos?  Probably not, but that’s a different story.

While every picture does indeed have an accompanying tale, many of the details naturally fade from memory with the passage of time.  For instance, while I’ve been lucky enough to haul in a number of decent bass over the last twenty five years, a great deal of the images eventually kind of blend together.  Fortunately, some of the snapshots from the last ten years now have a written companion since I’ve taken up sharing outdoor tales.  However, a fair number of my outdoor photos date back beyond such documented history while on occasion my memory doesn’t.

But there are always those pictures that stay imprinted on your brain, magically transporting you back through time in the mysterious way that memories get stored upstairs.  Such is the case with the five photos included with this submission.  Four of these pictures are from my collection while the fifth was borrowed from Mom and Dad.  They span nearly 30 years, from the fall of 1976 to the fall of 2004.  Coincidentally, or possibly subconsciously, their stories also represent much of what my writing has evolved to encompass since I took up the hobby back in the spring of 2002: fishing, trapping, hunting, camping, family, friends, tunes, trivia and sports. 

Keep in mind that this series also originated back when I simply e-mailed occasional articles to a small group of family and friends.  As such, there was no “Meandering” but these five postings certainly demonstrate that I chose an apt name upon taking the blogging plunge.  Be warned that you will encounter a decent dose of nostalgia but in my world that’s all part of the picture.  If you’ve been around for the duration of “Meandering” here on HO.com perhaps you already understand that.  If not, or if you’ve got some spare time for a refresher on what it’s all about, feel free to check out my April 2011 introductory series of six postings: Who, What, When, Where, How and Why. 

Generally, when I put together a posting, I pay little attention to the length other than trying not to get too long-winded.  However, I must admit that I was a bit intrigued with the word count as I put each piece of this project together back in 2008 and 2009.  My goal was to just let it flow, conveying the personal thoughts, emotions and memories that each picture brought to mind.  Besides, as I’m sure everyone’s English teachers explained over the years, “It’s quality, not quantity.” 

Regardless of the word count, hopefully the series will reiterate the sentiment of Rod Stewart and the title track from his chart topping 1971 album “Every Picture Tells A Story.”  (Trivia: Whose album “Tapestry” preceded Stewart at number one and whose “Imagine” album followed at number one?) 

Anyway, my plan is to pass along this series of articles over the course of the month with a few related photos accompanying each submission.  Some of the tales will focus primarily on the events surrounding the photos and some will stray.  But, in the end, perhaps something will strike a chord. 

From here on out, “1,000 Words” is only part of a title, not a requirement.  And while it took getting a little longwinded, I couldn’t resist stopping my introduction right on the mark.  Feel free to check Microsoft Word’s calculation if you desire.  Talk to you later.  Troy  
 

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