Inspiration is everywhere. You just need to take the time to stop and find it. Though mine had quietly been there all along, the realization of it was purely accidental.
In June of 2016, I nervously took a chance and wrote to Linejunk.com's Facebook page, (an amazing community of Linemen & their families,) asking for advice on "hanging up" my Grandfather's climbing hooks-- equipment known in the trade as, "Whiskeygetters." I had no idea what would come of it, but knew asking the opinion of my 87 year old Grandfather's fellow Linemen would be the best advice out there.
On that day I found much more than that.
I received a massive outpouring of answers to my question as well as sentiments from all who read my post. I had struck a chord-- literally across the world & I couldn't help but realize those who responded share as much love and respect for my Grandfather and the "Old-Timers" as I do.
My inspiration is in faces burned into the black and whites-- in the stories told by the young wild souls trapped inside bodies worn from years spent making things easier for the rest of us. It's alive within the spirits of those who have left pieces of themselves on the lines, in patches, in forests, the rails, the ranches, the pipeline, and all the roads in between... It's in the light in the old youthful eyes of those who truly lived through all of it.
These men & women, my "Whiskeygetters," dead or living, are the real role models---- Those, cut from a cloth that they don't even make anymore.
Anyone who knows an old Lineman, or anyone of these old trades knows that the telling of their wild stories is one of their favorite pastimes. Hell, some of us have been even held "hostage," by some who seem to have the reel of their glory days stuck on repeat. If you're anything like me, you've loved every minute of it.
I am here to bring you these stories. Pull up a chair & pour a drink, they're a coming... All because my Poppa wanted to hang up his "Whiskeygetters."
Here's where it all started:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1147299258655827&set=o.141540629334667&type=3