On the road… again!
Afghanistan to Zambia
Chronicles of a Footloose Forester
By Dick Pellek

b2_ap3_thumbnail_are you there?  b2_ap3_thumbnail_ come in, thumbnail_!

If you have a story to tell, but you don’t seem to have an interesting way to start, try to kick start it by seeking out an appropriate picture that helps gain the readers’ interest.  You don’t even have to possess your own pictures…there are thousands of them on the Internet and all you have to do is peruse in the images option to find one that might be appropriate.  Of course, begin looking for appropriate pictures by first making a word search.

For example, when the Footloose Forester wanted to tell a tale about airplanes and air travel, he sought out a picture of a C-124, one type of military transport that the US Air Force no longer flies. With the single descriptor of C-124 as the one and only word in the word search, not only did several pictures of C-124s show up in a Google search, but there was one that also displayed the name of the air service that had C-124s in their fleet.  It just so happened that the Military Air Transport Service of the US Air Force was also part of the story, itself.  In this case, MATS was intended to be part of the storyline, and the selected photo of a C-124 in flight was a perfect setup for the story that followed.  There was no need to convince readers that the Footloose Forester didn’t just make it all up when he said that he carried the MATS schedule in his back pocket. Thanks to b2_ap3_thumbnail_C-124, he likely also attracted the attention of anyone who was curious what that obsolete military airplane looked like.

A picture is still worth a thousand words.  Part of the challenge of storytelling is getting the attention of the reader quickly; and pictures invite potential readers who may already relate to the picture, if not to the story that follows.  Is this a case of which comes first, the chicken or the egg?  The picture or the story?

the picture tells the story more deliciously than I can

Legacy story writers very often prefer to use photographs, rather than pre-packaged pictures that might be found through the Internet. Family photos can be scanned and also converted into thumbnails. Modern computer and printer technologies and techniques make it ever easier to convert photographs into .JPG type files that are sized and shaped to fit.  We get to make our own b2_ap3_thumbnails.  Be aware, however; that it may be advisable to grab the attention of the reader early on, with words that are chosen to draw them in.  Not many readers will personally relate to family photos unless they are part of that family. Thus, storytellers are advised to choose photos that will make interesting thumbnails.

In a world in which the news is reduced to sound bites and photo ops, there is some justification in suggesting that the b2_ap3_thumbnail_, when inserted into an appropriate place in a story, is a tool that frames the storyline, and helps to tell the story.

Finally, and just in case you are wondering, a b2_ap3_thumbnail_ is just computer code that indicates that a picture or photograph embed is being designated at the insertion point of your choosing.  If you are anything like me, you will be looking forward to the next Legacy Story and its b2_ap3_thumbnail_ that makes it all the more interesting.  But remember that not all b2_ap3_thumbnails are equally appealing.  If your b2_ap3_thumbnail_ is good, there is a chance that another b2_ap3-thumbnail_ is even better.  The _ at the end of the thumbnail coding makes all the difference, so choose wisely.