Back in June 2016, I started a new "series" of posts... if you will...

And so on Wednesdays; I've been posting an old photograph to inspire your creativity.

Write a poem!

Plot out a short story.

Have inspiration for a piece of art or composition.... let your artistic soul shine.

--and occasionally I write my own sordid story or poem.

(you can click on the photos in this post to make it larger to see).

~~~

Peter and Paul Popplechek were brothers.

Born into a proud Czechoslovakian family, they grew up strong in the Kentucky sunshine.

Farming, logging, working outside... they spent their days together their whole lives.

So it was no wonder when the Civil War broke out, that they joined the Confederacy together.

But they had no idea what they were in for.

Rations were few, conditions were harsh... and the dog tent they shared with 4 others,

had neither blankets nor protection from the wet, cold ground.
Often, they would raid fields and abandoned buildings in search of food and drink. Through it all, they stuck together.

When Peter got the measles... it was Paul who stayed by his side and made sure he had water to drink. And when Paul was ambushed one night, it was Peter who carried him to the doctor's tent for surgery. They couldn't save his arm, but they saved his life... and Peter was grateful. Where would he be without his little brother? Somehow, with grace... they both managed to survive the horrors of war, only to return home to discover their parents had both succumbed to dysentery when the wells became contaminated in their village. The family homestead was gone... lost in fires that had spread throughout the south as battles raged on. Nothing was left. Only each other.

And so they joined a traveling troop of entertainers... and learned to play the guitar as a duo... each one providing a 'hands worth' to play music together. It was a novelty act, to be sure... but a unique one... and it allowed them to stay together.

Eventually, they both married... sisters who swung on the trapeze performing daring feats from high heights.

And it was good....