signs

"Life is one big road with lost of signs." - Bob Marley

Today's one word prompt is sign. For fun I did a little experiment and went to my photo stream on Flickr and did a search for "sign".  I was actually surprised by how many signs I have photographed through the last few years. Many of them really speak of where I live.  I might not have to give you an exact location at all, but  by looking at my photos I bet you could easily put a place to the signs.  I like that, how the signs around me speak of "home" and place.  My place in this big world. My signs mostly wooden & weathered by time and the sea. 

What "signs" do you see?

Share a sign with us all today.

Don't forget our new one word hashtag #ssdecember. 

treasures

“First I smell that smell and am overcome with a sensation of elation. Like a tight faucet turned open, everything floods from me. I scan the view, take a deep breath, and inevitably utter, "God, I love it here." I stride quickly to where the sand is still wet from the previous tide and then, and then I am gone. There is no thinking, just being. I have no awareness of time or of myself. If I am searching for glass, it is rote, with no more or less consciousness than a jellyfish searching for sustenance. It is not mindlessness or oblivion, as I am wholly aware, but in a way that preempts any reality outside of the moment. There I am seaweed, I am water, I am stone, I am fish. I am a grain of sand, warm in the sun. I am reduced to nothing, but part of everything. I am home, I am free, I am one with the sea, I am the primordial me, and the glass is just my excuse to be there.”
― S. Fields

I collect (and photograph) many treasures. Living near the coast, most of my treasures are gifts of the sea.  Feathers, beach rocks shaped like hearts, a few sand dollars, tiny starfish, and of course sea glass.  Finding these tiny pieces of glass, smoothed by time and sands, feels like finding a bit of magic.   Each piece unique in its beauty. My family has a favorite little cove we go, we have coined this cove "sea glass beach" for the bounty of these particular treasures you can find there. We just plunk ourselves down in the rocky sand and sift handful after handful of stones to reveal these tiny pebbles of glass.  It is truly meditative. Even my little ones will sit and sift with me. We weave stories of mermaid's tears, and lost pirate jewels. We stuff our pockets full, not feeling greedy at all since each time we go there is just more and more to find..  We bring them home, wash them and then place them in one of several glass mason jars strewn along our mantle and windowsills of our home.  Little glass gifts of the sea.  Thank you ocean.  

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Today's one word prompt is "glass", perhaps you have some tiny glass treasures like me, or maybe you will pour yourself a glass of something good today. Click and share your "glass" with us today.  Tag your images #shuttersisters.

bon appetit!

1. November 13th, 2. 10-11-2010 Rincón / Corner, 3. Bench Monday 80: Baking Up a Storm, 4. Buttermilk cake, 5. 365/226.  Fresh., 6. 365:177

Today's one word photo prompt is "kitchen". Perfect word for this time of year. During the holidays the kitchen becomes the center of activity.  Cooking, gathering, celebrating, eating. Family recipes handed down and shared. Little ones with flour covered fingers waiting to lick the beaters clean. Warmth radiating from the oven. Laughter unfurling as many hands make light work of dirty dishes. The sound of glasses clinking as toasts are being made.  Mom's apron.  Nana's tattered index cards of handwritten recipes in that familiar tin box. Beauty in the prosaic.  The moments that bind us together as family and friends.

I myself will be spending many hours in my kitchen today prepping for tomorrow's Thanksgiving meal. Recipes handed down from generation to generation, will now simmer on my stove top. Familiar smells of my childhood will permeate my kitchen as my little ones will watch me as I once watched my mom when I was their age.  Traditions, food, family, life, love.

Julia Child, one of the masters of the kitchen, may have put it best, "Find something you are passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it."

Today lets combine our passion for photography and Julia's passion for food and share an image of your kitchen here.

"BON APPETIT!"

(kitchen images above from the Shutter Sisters photo pool on Flickr. *don't forget to tag your images #shuttersisters)

sweets

1. 286/366 Dessert for supper, 2. sweet imperfections, 3. breakfast of champions, 4. Pie. #shuttersisters #pumpkin

Today we welcome in November with a brand new calendar of photo prompts. Our first prompt "sweet" which seems fitting since I am staring at one giant bowl of candy from last night's treating Halloween extravaganza.  I now have more "sweets" than I know what to do with!  All part of the fun of the season. How about you? Are you still buzzing from last night's sugar high?  :-)

November makes me think of other sweets too, like pie, apple, pecan and of course pumpkin. Then there is warm cider, hot cocoa & marshmallows, and chai.

Today share something sweet here with us and play along all month long. Don't forget to tag your images #shuttersisters on IG and Flickr.

all in this together

(The beauty of instant film on a sunny table at Oasis.)

With hurricane Sandy upon us here on the east coast,  Palm Springs suddenly seems so far away. I am sitting here in my 3rd story apartment typing quickly in hopes that our power stays on long enough for me to finish this post. I am even working a day in advance in case power goes out and we are without it it for who knows how long.  I filled the tub full of water in case we need it.  Lanterns and batteries at the ready. Trying to organize meals in my head, what we have, what we could cook on the grill if we do indeed lose power. Perspective switches rather quickly. Simple needs trump wants. My mind wanders to my family in Pennsylvania, my friends in New York and New Jersey, and of course my own little family here in Maine. The winds rattle our windows. Will the trees stay upright?  (please stay upright)  Just a few short days ago I was playing in the warm sun in California with many ladies from this very sisterhood who are now home with their families just as I am waiting this storm out. I look at this image and see the words captured on film. The same words that were written more than once at The Ace, "we are all in this together."  How very true those words are, made even more fitting when mother nature has her way. 

Our lenses tend to focus on the beauty around us, but after a day and storm like this, many will focus theirs on the aftermath.  Documenting their way toward hope, healing and rebuilding.  Strangers will come together to help.  People will rally and beauty will prevail, even in the midst of darkness. I know this to be true, I lived it one fateful day March, 1993 in Florida when I woke to find a wall of water outside my front door. I am forever grateful for the unique perspective that day gifted me. So tonight, I send out wishes of hope for all in harms way.  Gratitude for those who will help those in need. For we really are one.

Share an image of hope with us here today.  Give in any way you can; donate blood, food, water, shelter, smile at a stranger, hug someone you love, and remember we ARE all in this together.