The Great Outdoors RV and Golf Resort, where we live,  has so many clubs, activities, and events for we retired folks that we hardly have time to retire. Two of the activities I am involved with are the Photo Club and the Writer’s Group.

I have a question for each of you – Tell me your answer (You can do that by leaving a comment or e-mailing me at jimbrubaker@earthlink.net).  The question is  “Do you think combining photos and words and sharing them on a joint club blog would be fun for members of the Writing Group and the Photo Club?”

Bob Hazlett is leader of the Writer’s Group.  He is trying to get the writers club and the photo club to combine the skill’s of the photographers and the writers.  Combining writings and images is not a new idea.   For example, CBS Sunday Morning had a story on Steve Martin drawing cartons and writing words to tell his funny stories. That  is what all cartoonists do, is it not?   Every news paper puts words under their photographs. Or, is it that papers and magazines use photographs to illustrate their story? At any rate, combining words and images and sharing them is not new and I think it is a great idea.

Dave Spahn is leader of the Photo Club. He has a team of leaders and they will get together next week to plan winter activities for the club.  I am a member of that leader group and  I want to push the idea that the photographers and writers work together to combine their work and share it on a  blog, under a unique domain.

The words could be relatively short like the words Dave Cesari always writes telling us a little of the birds he photographed. Or, perhaps someone else could write a short message about the camera settings used for a difficult photo shot.. Or writers could use an image to prompt them to write a  short story like the one Bob Hazlett wrote. Or, anything in-between.

Please take the time to read what I posted below.  “Do you think combining photos and words and sharing them on a joint club blog would be fun for members of the Writing Group and the Photo Club?”

Dave Cesari is an outstanding photographer and birder and a constant contributor to the Photo Club Pages –  linkable in the lefthand column.  This week he wrote:   Hi Jim, It is a snowy day here in upstate NY. This is what we woke up to this morning. Seems early but here it is. The upside is my feeders are very active. A male Evening Grosbeak, a male Purple Finch, a Bluejay.  The last shot is a Starling in a tangle of wild grape vines in the top of one of my back line trees. We haven’t had Grosbeaks here for several years so it was exciting to have one and get a decent shot of it.   Dave

11 06 2020 Dave Cesari

11 06 2020 Dave Cesari

11 06 2020 Dave Cesari

11 06 2020 Dave Cesari

11 06 2020 Dave Cesari

Bob Hazlett is an outstanding writer, having won many writing contests. In fact the story that follows took 2nd place in a Writers.com contest. The judges wrote: “I was pleased that you caught the Glimpse of Pegasus. It left me with a smile on my face. Well written with well chosen words.”  This short story, “Horse Dreams” (a study in colors), was prompted by a Photo Art image of mine:

I believe God, for some reason known only to him, gave us wretched humans two kindred species to be our friends. More than we deserve, dogs and horses help us be our better selves. They tolerate us, work with us, play with us,even love us. I have been without a dog for several years and miss her terribly.I’ve had only one brief experience with horses, but that’s all it took; I could lovehorses too. Maybe my dog convinced God to give me this little adventure.

Photo  by Jim Brubaker

My habit is to spend my late afternoons on my porch with a bourbon, a cigar, reading material, and writing tools. The brilliant sunlight glistening from the ice cubes brings the bourbon’s mahogany color to life, while the cigar’s tawny brown soothes the soul. I look forward to this sensory delight almost every day. Today was special. Giant cumulus clouds in wedding-veil white stood proudly against the sapphire blue sky. The falling sun painted the sky with a mural of medallion yellow, carrot orange, and blush red. Colors were rising and falling by the second as I watched.

From the horizon, as if coming from the sun itself, climbing high into the sky, trotted a parade of horses. Single file they came; each prancing and tossing its head; each with a flowing mane, flaring nostrils, and flashing eyes; each asplendid example of its breed.

 A blood bay Hackney led the parade, representing the storied history of English carriage horses.

Then came a Schwarzwälder Fuchs with a dark silver dapple coat and a light mane and tail. This horse originated in the Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.

A chestnut Frederiksborg followed with its flaxen colored mane and tail. The alabaster white markings on his face and legs shone brightly in the sunlight. The Frederiksborg is the oldest horse breed in Denmark.

Trotting out of the sun, a Cayuse Indian Pony, roan in color, proudly carried the history of the early American frontier. Although the settlers called most horses raised by the American Indians “cayuse ponies,” the Cayuse Indian Pony of the Northwest is a distinct breed.

Large patches of onyx black and polar white marked the Piebald Pinto trotting up from the horizon. There are two recognized Pinto color patterns: 1) Tobiano – appears to be white with large spots of color, and 2) Overo appears to be a colored horse with jagged white markings.

Following the Pinto came the American Paint. Color patterns differentiate the American Paint Horse. Each horse has a unique combination of white and any one of the colors of the equine rainbow: black, bay, brown, chestnut, dun, grulla, sorrel, palomino, gray, or roan.

Next in the parade was a grulla colored Tarpan. His body a smoky gray, with the face and legs being darker than the body. The mane and tail flaxen, but dark in the center where the dorsal stripe passes through. Descended from the wild Tarpan at a forest in Bialowieza, today, this breed is sometimes referred to as the Polish Primitive Horse.

Spots and splashes of color made the Appaloosa easily recognizable. Humans have recognized and appreciated the Appaloosa throughout history. As far back as 20,000 years ago, Ancient cave drawings depicted spotted horses, as do detailed images in Asian and 17th-century Chinese art. The Spanish introduced these horses to North America as they explored the American continents.

A magnificent chestnut roan Clydesdale with four milk-white socks to the knees and hocks, sporting a well-defined blaze on his face, brought up the end of my parade. The Clydesdale is a breed of heavy draft horse developed in and deriving its name from Scotland’s district where it was founded. Its type was evolved by the farmers of Lanarkshire, through which the River Clyde flows. The old name for Lanarkshire is Clydesdale. Alas, he was not pulling a Budweiser wagon.

The western horizon had lost its sun and was now a plum purple shot through with pink. The parade was over; the sun had set; my glass was empty, and my cigar was well past the last third. As I rose to go into my house, I glanced to the north. There, in the darkening sky, Pegasus winked at me.

“Horse Dreams” (a study in colors)  by Bob Hazlett

After reading Bob’s story,  I created a second piece of Photo Art that his story prompted in my mind “Pegasus watching the horse race from the fires of…….”  So, that is step 3 in the circle – Maybe Bob will add step 4 – another story prompted by this new art – Who knows?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Click The Photo Club Page in the left column to see photos from Club Members including Dave’s many contributions.

Contact Bob Hazlett at    rlhazlett999@gmail.com    to get details on his idea for integrating writing and photos projects.  He also has a  collection of stories already written by members who used images from the Digital Photo Art pages (clickable in the left hand column).  Some members, in addition to Bob,  who  wrote short stories using photo art are: Susan Hubbard, Nancy Wagner, Sue Conant, and myself Jim Brubaker.

As you swing through life, think about retiring to a great place like The Great Outdoors RV and Golf Resort and participating or of course if already here say WOW.