How many words are your pictures worth?
They say, "A picture is worth a thousand words", I disagree. I will, however, agree that a picture is worth a few words but no amount of words can ever tell the whole story. Whomever said that must have really meant, "Don't bore me to death, just show me the picture"
A picture says very little, when shown to someone, unless he or she witnessed the events leading up to the snap of the camera. If I show you a picture of myself with a nice Bass, you see me with a nice bass. I see the whole fishing trip! The casual observer has no idea of the events, which are so important, that lead up to the moment now frozen in time. Pictures are more than words, they are memories that only the person or persons featured can cherish. The "Thousand Words" are hidden forever in their memory.
Like most people, I surround myself with things that hold a special interest to me. They have little meaning to the viewer but for me they hold so much more. The walls around my desk are adorned with these moments. It is also cluttered with objects that tell a tale only to me. These pictures, paintings and other knickknacks have been carefully selected and earned their right to be displayed. Each time my glance falls on any one of them I have a flash back of the events that made it happen or how it ended up in my possession.
Take a minute and look at the things around your little area. Neat to look at for others but super special to you, right?
My mother always dabbled in painting and surprised me with her uncanny ability to put my oral stories on a canvas. She out did herself with one that she titled "Fish Story". Four of the accompanying pictures are used to show the detail that only she could conjure up. Completed in 1991 she was somehow able to capture what was in my dreams and memories. She combined fantasy and reality in a single work of art. Guided by various other pictures of previous times the end result still astounds me. A thousand words would not begin to tell what this single painting means to me.
Another one she did was titled "Gone Fishing". Here she catches the true image of a lazy day on the banks of a slow moving stream. I only wish that I could slow down and be that boy!
The chill of winter and solitude of ice fishing is shown is one that I titled "Moonlight Ice Fishing". Every detail is again brought to life by combining verbal descriptions and single items in my old photos. This one portrayal reminds me of countless ice fishing trips.
See the fish mount? Nice one for sure. To me it brings back total recall of a three day trip to the Salmon River in New York. I can see the river, recall the November chill and feel the initial strike of the fish, relive the torturous back and forth battle and the final landing of my prize way back in 1984.
We all have pictures or other objects that are on display and although many see them only you can hear the words through your memories.
Thanks for following "Fishing Fever". If you are now just catching this blog I suggest going back, through the others, for a variety of subjects that have been covered.
Next time... ?
