It was inevitable. The carrot and the rabbit would join forces to do good in the world.

When I first met the artist known as TOJ, I also learned that Tammy Gajewski is a poet and was a prison guard. She owns Red Rabbit Studio and lives on Rabbit Bay on the south side of the Keweenaw Peninsula. After our first introduction and she learned of Carrot Ranch, we decided we’d “do something” together One Day.

Don’t you love One Days? Those moments when you realize that something you dreamed into existence is finally going to manifest in a tangible way?

TOJ had a heart to make nature and art accessible. Maybe it was all her years behind bars where she established a Leader Dog program and taught prisoners how to paint. TOJ kayaks Lake Superior, and bikes the backroads of the southside, something her prisoners could not do. Art and nature liberate the soul. The dual experience was something she wanted to make accessible.

Then, TOJ had a vision. Three years ago, a microburst hit the cedar bog behind her home and left a swath of downed trees. What if? TOJ began to dream about turning those trees into boardwalks across the glen. With the help of a friend who owned a portable sawmill, they worked an entire summer to clean the downburst, plane logs into lumber, and restore the bog. The next summer they built a winding plank trail through the woods, connecting her home on Rabbit Bay to a county gravel road behind her property. The trail was born.

All the time TOJ worked her land, she dreamed of an event where people would park on the county road and walk to her art studio through the cedar bog on a raised plank trail. It feels all at once, neolithic and new.

Two years ago, TOJ talked through her dream for an interactive art walk. I was excited because Canadian author, photographer, and Carrot Rancher Ann Edall-Robson had introduced me years ago to an intriguing artist collaboration in her community. In fact, her most recent submission to Voices and Visions 2023 features in a Canadian magazine. Ann put a seed in my dreamscape to One Day pair literary artists with visual artists. So, when TOJ pitched Red Rabbit collaborating with Carrot Ranch, I saw an opportunity.

Not only a chance to implement pairing 99-words to TOJ’s art but also to work with someone who shares my passion for accessibility. After all, Carrot Ranch exists to make literary art accessible 99 words at a time. Since then, TOJ and I have met numerous times to plan and implement over two years. It’s a joy to present the first-ever annual Keweenaw Interactive Art Walk.

While we are selling tickets locally to grow and sustain the event, we are also offering family discounts and scholarships so no one is turned away. We need to cover Porta Potty, signage, art supply costs, and continued development. We have local people donating refreshments, including a local Finnish artist who is famous for spreads and jams she makes from her garden. The trail will be strung with 20 works of art and their corresponding 99-word stories. Benches and stations will invite participants to reflect and create. They can submit a single-sentence reflection, haiku, or a 99-word story and paint rocks, driftwood, and coasters. All beneath the canopy of nature, surrounded by inspiration.

Where does the Carrot Ranch Literary Community come in? We get the chance to pair 99-word stories or free-verse to 20 of TOJ’s paintings. This is a community collaboration and an interesting way to involve literary artists beyond a small remote point of land surrounded by Lake Superior. Full disclosure — we are publishing a commemorative book to use to sustain the future of the walk. We plan to curate and publish the pairings, stories from this week’s challenge, and selected submissions from the participants.

If you want to participate in the pairing collaboration, please email me: wordsforpeople (at) gmail (dot) com to receive a photo of a painting to prompt a 99-word story or free verse.

If you want to submit this week’s response to the collection that will also go in the commemorative book, indicate your agreement to participate in the two temporary fields in this week’s form.

I know the Rabbit and the Carrot would be honored to showcase your writing talents in our community.

September 5, 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that depicts the painting, “Southwest Pumpkins” by TOJ (from the introductory photo). Feel free to explore the nuances — do you focus on the art or seek a story? What vibes do you get? Who shows up to enter the image? What happens? Go where the prompt leads!

1. Submit by September 11, 2023. Please use the form below if you want to be published in the weekly collection. The Collection publishes on the Thursday following the next Challenge. Stories must be 99 words. Rules & Guidelines.
2. Writers retain all copyrights to any stories published at Carrot Ranch.
3. A website or social media presence is not required to submit. A blog or social media link will be included in the title of any story submitted with one.
4. Please include your byline with your title on one line. Example: Little Calves by Charli Mills. Your byline can be different from your name.
5. Please include the hashtag #99WordStories when sharing either the Challenge or Collection posts on social media.