Some months back, about last October I think, I started a project in which I was going to photograph the same object everyday for one year. I chose a wooden rooster that Richard, for reasons completely unknown to me, bought at an auction that the Kite Flyers Club in Topeka had as a fund raiser. Now that I think of it, I can't imagine why the poor old rooster was put up for auction to begin with. Well, he sat on the divider in our dining room for several weeks before the project was even conceived. Then another week or two passed as I tried to decide what object I wanted to photograph. One day my eyes fell on the poor old tattered guy and I noticed how colorful and (most importantly) how portable he was. So...that's where I began. After I took the first couple of shots, I mentioned to my son that I needed to come up with a proper name for the rooster and he told me that Dad had already named him..Willie. I thought that changing his name at that point might confuse the old guy, so I kept it. It suits him and he seems to like it. ( er...the old guy I refer to is Willie , not Richard ..snicker,snicker).Well, I truly had a blast trying to come up with themes and situations to place Willie in, but then, my life began to pick up speed and the time I had to devote to the shots was radically limited. I began using all of my spare time doing make-up shots and posts to the 365 day group. That wasn't so bad really, except that I wasn't getting much else done in my life. What really bothered me was that I would start to feel guilty about not keeping up. Harumph! yuk! Anyone that knows me (or most of my siblings) knows that guilt is such an easy path for us to follow. SO I decided to call it quits. Feeling guilty about a wooden rooster just seemed ..well... stupid. So, after much thought and even a few misty eyed moments, we posted our farewell shot. I still feel sad. Sometimes I wonder if he feels left out now. Ack! I've given him emotions! After 183 days he became my friend. A wooden friend, but a friend no less. Well, it seems that a few other people enjoyed his company too. We've seen Willie on other photo sets (in various settings) and obviously nearly related kin on more than a few, but the photo at the top is my all time favorite! I laughed so hard that I cried when I saw it! The photographer is a gentleman on flickr that I developed a friendship with because of his interest in Topeka and some special memories that he has regarding it. He's a songwriter, novelist, jumper to the boat and in a far, far away world ( prior to jumping to the boat) he was a Letter Carrier for the USPS. He's pretty funny too. So, that's the history of Willie. My good friend that just happens to be made of wood.
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