light hunting

Portland winter rolls around and it's not the cold and rain that do me in. It's the lack of light. Most days, I look out my window around 4:30 in the afternoon and it's already dark. Nothing to do but sigh. Sigh heavily. But I've spent too much time lamenting the lack of buttery natural light here. I've decided to turn things around this year. To look for light in darkness, to crank up my ISO and keep my mind open. True, twinkly lights are everywhere right now but the real challenge will come in the long winter months that follow December. But I'm ready. I'm armed and I'm ready. How about you?

Light in darkness, Have you found any lately? Please share an image with us here today.

a celebration of light and color

"There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."  ~Edith Wharton

Tis the season for lights and color. And when you combine to two? Magic happens!

The golden glow of candle light, radiant ornaments, moonlight, subtle sparkles, twinkle lights.

Whether you choose fantastic focus or a brilliant bokeh, today, illuminate us with all the light and color that you've captured this holiday.

sparkle and shine

As we inch further into the month of December, I'm finding that I have a magnetic attraction to sparkles. Here, in my part of the world, New England is still on the cusp of winter. We dance back and forth between seasons: the snow retreats and grass remains, autumn leaves long gone leave branches bare and cold.

I took a walk this day and had to shield my eyes from the glare. Yet I could not pull myself away from the sparkle and shine of the world around me. Now I seek it, not just in the winter wonderland that is knocking at our door, but I seek it with lights and pretty pretties as well.

No matter the day (or season) we all sparkle.
Today share with us how your part of the world is shining.

For Light

For Light 

Light cannot see inside things.
That is what the dark is for:
Minding the interior,
Nurturing the draw of growth
Through places where death
In its own way turns into life.

In the glare of neon times,
Let our eyes not be worn
By surfaces that shine
With hunger made attractive.

That our thoughts may be true light,
Finding their way into words
Which have the weight of shadow
To hold the layers of truth.

That we never place our trust
In minds claimed by empty light,
Where one-sided certainties
Are driven by false desire.

When we look into the heart,
May our eyes have the kindness
And reverence of candlelight.

That the searching of our minds
Be equal to the oblique
Crevices and corners where
The mystery continues to dwell,
Glimmering in fugitive light. 

When we are confined inside
The dark house of suffering
That moonlight might find a window.

When we become false and lost
That the severe noon-light
Would cast our shadow clear.

When we love, that dawn-light
Would lighten our feet
Upon the waters.

 As we grow old, that twilight
Would illuminate treasure
In the fields of memory. 

And when we come to search for God,
Let us first be robed in night,
Put on the mind of morning
To feel the rush of light
Spread slowly inside
The color and stillness
Of a found word.

~ John O'Donohue ~

Poem found and image shared by the amazing Myriam Loeschen.

Morning Light

Recently, I spent ten glorious days having a love affair... with the morning light.  

While watching a friend's house last month, I was very spoiled by the abundance of windows in her home.  I would open my eyes each day to see a delightful dance of dust particles in the streaming sunshine, the warm glow on her treasured antiques, and wee rainbows on the walls.  Even before my first sip of coffee, I knew there would be magic... if I just looked for it.

Share a bit of your morning light with me today, I am missing the way it warmed my heart.