Our very own Lysle Barmby came up with this great idea!
What if, as a group, we wrote a story through words and photos. Do you remember the old party game where one person starts the story and everyone adds on? We are doing a 365 Picture Today Variation where one person starts the story with a paragraph and a photo, and then hands off to the next person who adds a paragraph and a photo, and then hands off....
Lysle started the story for us and the creative team added. This was great fun and it was exciting to see how the story developed and took many twists and turns!
We hope you enjoy what we have started... and read til the end, because YOU will be part of the next chapter!
The Canoe on the Ceiling
In the 1930’s, a young man travelled far and discovered the most beautiful lake he had ever seen. He promptly bought 5 acres of waterfront property on the remote property. He hired a local legend to build a log home with a stone chimney. The young man then married. He brought his city born new wife to her honeymoon destination via railroad and then canoe. At the time there were no roads or bridges to access his new home. The young bride paddled 15 km across the lake in the very canoe now on the ceiling. How did it get there?
After crossing the lake safely with his bride, the young man wanted to do something to help ease her homesickness. The young man had taken an interest in wood working. He surrounded his home and property with intricate carvings of trolls that his bride could admire. One day his new bride was strolling around the lake when she stopped to study one of the carvings. As she did, her mind’s eye believed she saw facial movement. But how can that be? These statues are wooden? The next day as she set out again, she approached the statue. As she drew near, it spoke to her! But what was said?
“Do not fear, dear lady,” the troll’s voice rumbled, deep and soothing. “I am Thistle, guardian of your dreams and sorrow. You wander here, lost in the shadow of your past. But every carving holds a story, and I can help you weave yours anew.”
Startled, the young bride stepped back, her heart racing. “You... you can talk?” she stammered, glancing around as if the woods were alive with eyes. “Indeed,” Thistle replied, its wooden features softening. “Your husband’s love has infused this place with magic. You feel homesick, but this lake can be your sanctuary. Listen to the whispers of the wind, and you will find what you seek.”
Determined, she approached once more. “What must I do?”
Thistle urged the young bride to "Embrace the adventure and make this enchanting lake your own!" Filled with excitement and curiosity, she eagerly set out in the canoe to explore. Despite her initial hesitations, she quickly fell in love with this new land with each passing day. The lake became her ultimate sanctuary and playground, with countless new sights and sounds waiting to be discovered.
As weeks and months passed, she returned to the familiar wooden statue, eager to share her latest magical discovery… like flowers in every shade of purple!.....
But as often happens, even in enchanted lands, there came a time of darkness. It was a time of hardship, pain, destruction, and loss. The bride witnessed these things. They fell upon her and upon those she loved. They even affected the land she thought would always remain a sanctuary. She was heartbroken.
“How could ugliness infect our enchanted land?” she asked. And she was at a loss to explain it and even more, she was at a loss how to save it.
During this time of darkness, the now bride of many years was again consumed by overwhelming feelings of homesickness. This time it was not due to missing her city life, but rather missing the magic of the life that her husband had created around their cabin on the lake, a magic on which she had come to rely.
The darkness made it hard for her to see anything beautiful. It made it hard for her to feel anything but despair. It made it hard for her to find hope. The woman wondered what remained of her previously enchanted life. She wondered if her faithful guardian, Thistle, had also disappeared into the ugliness? Though she was afraid of what she might find, or perhaps not find, the woman ventured into the woods to look for Thistle.
There he was! Relieved, she repeated her question from all those years ago, “What must I do?” Thistle responded, “This time, your husband does not hold the magic to fix things for you. The magic is not in the lake, or in the wind, or in the woods, or in the cabin. The magic that will again fill your world with light rests within your soul. Turn inwardly; embrace this new adventure.”
The bride stood there trying to understand Thistle’s meaning. “I hold the magic within myself? How can that be?” She had thought her husband was responsible for her happiness. She took a step back and turned around and looked out over the pool of water in front of her. As she looked down she noticed her reflection in the surface of the water. A smile crossed her face as she pondered what Thistle had told her. As she continued to think about it, the bride felt a strange sense of calm come over her. She gained a strength to see herself in a whole new light. Maybe Thistle was right! She could seek her own magic. With a renewed sense of purpose the bride walked out of the forest. With each step she took, the sun’s rays grew stronger. She smiled knowing that it was her own inner strength that brought about this new magic. She embraced the forest’s offerings and headed over the foot bridge leading her back to her lake and husband. It was time to share her new found gift with those she loved.
... to be continued...
By YOU!
We hope you have enjoyed the story and photos so far. But now, we want the community to join in and add to the story. If you would like to participate, please send an e-mail to amy@365picturetoday.com by October 5th!
With your help, the story will continue, and maybe we will even find out how the canoe ended up on the ceiling! The completed story will appear in the October blog!