A Dream Come True

 
 
 

    Road to Town by Wendy Jacobson
    |
    Make Your Own Book
 

 

Seven years ago, I started this blog called "Along Life's Road." As I uploaded photos and wrote posts, I began dreaming about publishing a book - someday.

Last winter, after purchasing tickets for my oldest son and me to fly to Norway in the late spring, I began thinking about a gift to mark 30 years since my host families had welcomed me into their homes. I wanted something American, even Minnesotan, or better yet, something from our tiny town. That's when I decided to make the dream come true.

I began sorting through thousands of photos I'd taken along a two-mile stretch of a gravel road between our home and rural town. I picked out the top 200 images, divided them into seasons and began arranging them into pages using a bookmaking program. The process was exhilarating and exhausting. After three months, I gave up. I literally could not stand the project anymore. I decided to find a different gift or take nothing at all.

Then, three weeks before our scheduled departure, I felt a change of heart. An internal energy made me re-open the project and finish it - all 112 images. When I asked for others' opinions, my son gave me wise advice by asking, "Mom, Do YOU like it?" When I replied, "Yes," he said, "Then that's all that matters."

He was right. Not every photo speaks to every person. And that's okay. After reviewing her copy, my close friend called the book a visual "meditation." My former landlady said, "Every time I look at it, I see something new."

I hope you do too!

But even more, I dream that YOU too would begin to see your own ordinary surroundings in an extraordinary way. Click on the four arrows to enlarge the book.

With blessing and love from Along Life's Road,
Wendy