http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/salt-marsh-aerial-virginia/

10:30am – Palace Round Room – Meeting minutes and summary. Transcript available upon request.

Attendees:

Emperor’s Defense Trust Head Secretary Jefferson Paine
Emperor’s Science Trust Head Secretary Nylam B. Sanford
Governor, Marshlands, Nehyr Pettrik
University of the Coast Professor Sal Caudata (fire salamander expert)
(Minutes taken by Mr. Sanford’s assistant, approved by Mr. Paine, Mr. Sanford)

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http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/wakhi-hunza-pakistan/

The trip should not take more than two days. For two days, they can each carry their share of the supplies. Two days across uneven rocky terrain, crossing the streams and rivers and gorges that stand between their village and the crags that serve as the home of the Je’ro Mebron.

“This isn’t good.”

“I won’t argue.”

“I’m saying it’s almost sundown. We’re at least four hours away.”

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http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/szodliget-hungary-mist-cabin/

Water lapped quietly at the pale grey boards of the small dinghy as it plodded over the still patch of river. Its two occupants rowed with steady strokes that, had any observers been present, could easily be seen to lack gusto. The younger of the two glanced over his shoulder more than once as the fog slowly revealed their destination.

“Creepy as I remember,” he said in a voice that he intended to sound calm, conversational. But fog did strange things to voices, and it came out flat and hollow and foreboding.

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http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/oudemansiella-mucida-mushroom-macro/

Auralisin Fungus – Lot #67, Luxury Botany

Kristie’s Auctioneer is proud to offer, for the first time in nearly ten years, two Auralisin Fungus sprouts.

Rarity – Extreme. According to some reports, no more than a few hundred grow in the wild at any given time. Numbers grown in private gardens are thought to be low, as they are notoriously difficult to grow in domesticated areas, even with conditions that are otherwise ideal.

Origin – Sprouts can be found on the east coast of South America and the southwestern coast of Africa. The provenience of these particular sprouts is unknown. The seller, who is understood to have some expertise in the matter, believes they are privately grown, not wild.*

Seller – Name withheld by request.

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http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/coconut-palm-reflection-india/

In the end, the pool wasn’t hidden in some deep, remote piece of jungle. It wasn’t exactly accessible, but it could be found not even a full day’s hike from the nearest town. The afternoon sun was still well above the horizon, streaming through the palm fronds when he padded across the mossy ground that led to the water’s edge.

The stillness of the area was overpowering. The man stopped, just a few steps from the water, and listened. Silence. Not a wisp of wind moved through the trees. The water itself was so calm it looked like a solid, enormous mirror. Somewhere in the distance a bird squawked, but it faded quickly, and silence returned.

A crackle in his ear. “Is that it?” a voice asked.

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Posted – January 1st

National Geographic has an excellent photography section on their website. Populated with gorgeous photos from long-time professionals and amateurs alike, it’s one of the very best kinds of internet rabbit holes. I can, and have, spent hours in that one-more-click zone, unable to pull myself from all the varied and beautiful images the site’s editors deemed worthy of calling out. For any fans of photography, I can’t recommend highly enough spending some time digging through the deep archive at the site.

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/

A few years ago, when I first began to frequent the site, I fell in love with the Photo of the Day page. Every day, a new photo is posted. And every day, the photo is wonderful. The subjects vary widely but the quality never does. Over the years, I’ve been inspired more than once by the day’s photograph to jot down story ideas, themes for a future piece, or notes for whatever piece of writing I had in front of me at the time. And now I’m going one step further.

This year, my goal is to write a story inspired by each photo of the day. 365 photos, 365 short stories. My hope is that I can take something already beautiful and turn it, just a little, to be seen in a different light. Every story will have some kind of fantastical element, some liberal interpretation of the visual information presented in the photo.

Tall tales are, at their simplest, stories with some sort of fantastical element. In American literature, they’re often extrapolations of true stories (think Johnny Appleseed). They are the imagination run wild, using something tangible and true to craft a story of something weird or wonderful, magical or haunting. They are the perfect sort of story to use for my project over the coming year.

So this is my intention. A story a day, every day, all year. I hope you enjoy them all, or some of them, or none but are curious enough to read a few anyway. Later today I’ll post the first story, and we’ll be off to the races in 2015 – The Tall Tale Year.