Word Pictures

by Jackie Houchin

“One picture is worth a thousand words,” or so they say. (Actually, it was first said by newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane.) And that’s what I try to do.

Six mornings each week, I go out early and walk a couple of miles before the sun is all the way up.  I leave before eating or anything else… well, I do throw out some bread and peanuts for my crow friends as I go. 

I listen to a Christian podcast or two via Bluetooth as I walk, and I usually walk in one of the 4 directions from my house. The routes get familiar, so occasionally I drive to a walking or biking path. 

I’ve discovered 10 Little Free Libraries in my neighborhood along the way, and sometimes I switch books between them (or grab one to read).

It’s cool. It’s quiet. It’s sometimes foggy.  I may see a familiar dog-walker or two, but mostly I’m alone. I LOVE it.

My eyes are constantly roving here and there as I walk.  I’ve been a photographer for many years, and my mind-eye connection often sees unusual, fun, or beautiful sights out of things you would normally pass right by.

Such as a tree with eyes. A big stuffed tiger hanging out of a child’s wading pool. Or a bright cerise rose poking up through a snowfield of dusty-white other-plant leaves. A tiny black crow sitting in the top branches of a wintry black tree skeleton. A silvery Jetstream arrowing straight up and catching the first beams of the sun.  A hidden shell. A mossy side of a fireplace. Wild daisies growing in and through a log fence. Weird oil leaks and stains on the asphalt that look like something to me, which I call “street art.”

I shoot these with my phone and post them online under “Early Morning Walking.”  With a mini-fun description, or possibly a “find me” puzzle, a story, or maybe nothing. 

(A recent post showed what looked like an above-ground aquarium to me with colorful “marine” plants and even a fish swimming among them. Some people could “see” the fish.  Others wrote comments of frustration at missing it completely. (See photo below) I have a writer’s artistic imagination, I guess.

Yes, my family calls me weird. But I enjoy my “visual creative-writing” in my daily walks and pix.

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See the fish peeking out? (Maybe squint a bit and use your imagination.) This is my above-ground aquarium. Heh, heh, heh. It’s become one of my faves!

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Author: Jackie Houchin

First, I am a believer in Jesus Christ, so my views and opinions are filtered through what God's Word says and I believe. I'm a wife, a mom, a grandma and now a great grandma. I write articles and reviews, and I dabble in short fiction. I enjoy living near the ocean, doing gardening (for beauty and food) and traveling - in other countries, if possible. My heart is for Christian missions, and I'm compiling a collections of Missionary Kids' stories to publish. (I also like kittens and cats and reading mysteries.)

6 thoughts on “Word Pictures”

  1. It’s always fun to see your photos from those walks. I usually see what you mention and I try catching glimpses of those nature works of art that show up around my house when I take a walk. Clouds can be amazing in their artistic ability to be something for a few seconds and then morph into just a cloud. But the fact we are using our imagination is a treat, so keep posting so others might take a look around themselves and see what the world has to offer free of charge.

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    1. Thanks, Gayle. These days, when I start out in the morning, the neighborhood looks so familiar that I almost dispair of finding something to “shoot.” But as I walk, sure enough, something we catch my eye, and I’ll have to stop or back up and put a mental frame around some minute thing, or some panorama suddenly changed in the light. It’s fun. My phone is getting quite full with over 15K pix!!

      I also enjoy your photo glimpses, especially of the critters who visit you.

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  2. What a gift our imagination is. All it needs is our attention. And imagination isn’t limited to writers and artists — we just make such good use of it!

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    1. How true Maggie. A good writer makes us “see” beautiful pictures in our minds as we read. Mine might be different than others in the way I imagine the author’s words, but it’s a gift. Right now, I’m still remembering the word pictures Allen Levi painted in my mind with his debut novel, “Theo of Golden.” Panoramic and beautiful.

      I hope my daily photos do the opposite and inspire words to be said about them.

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  3. Jackie – I have always loved your photographs. You have a special talent there. And I envy you being able to walk out alone so early in the mornings! That’s not a safe things to do in Hollywood!! I think Word Pictures is a lovely phrase to use fr your photographic art! Thank you for taking us on your journey with you.

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  4. What a wonderful habit to have developed. You exercise your body, your mind, your eye and your imagination. Thanks for the tour of your neighborhood.

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