Shadows in the Sand

Sheer simplicity. There is always something beautiful and elegant to the "less is more" approach. Witness this sliver of a root in the sand. It is small-less than 3 inches. Yet in all it's glory, simply beautiful.

You know, these images are from what I refer to as my "parallel universes": Molokai and New Mexico. The top image is at White Sands. Bottom image is at Papohaku beach.

Papohaku in Hawaiian, means stone wall. Pa (with a line over the 'a') means wall, fence corral, pen, etc. Pohaku (with a line over the "o") means, 'stone'. So, there's your lesson for the day in the Hawaiian language. Although I did not see any stone walls at Papohaku beach.

You know, I'd like to think that I was raised in a 'normal' family. But, what is normal? I have 5 siblings: four brothers and a sister 10 years younger than I. At 18 years of age, my mother and father informed us that we have an older half sister (from my mother).Mom had her when she was 16 years old. My older sister was raised by her biological grandparents in Florida. Wow. An older sister. For so many years, being he only girl for so long, I begged my mom for a little sister. Finally, at 10 year of age, I did get a little sister quite by 'accident' as mom wasn't supposed to have any more children. I don't know if you can imagine how I felt finding out that I had another sister. Thrilled! Of course, we all asked if she could come and live with us. My parents would've loved to have raised her, but it would've meant tearing her away from the parents that she had known (her grandparents) all her life.

Bear with me. I am leading up to something here. I met my older sister for the first time at a family reunion in Illinois in 1974. Her resemblance to my mother was astonishing. As far as I can remember, that is the only time I've met her. They say that blood is thicker than water. It is. Even though we did not grow up together, it felt like we did. The bond was there. She, like me, realized that there was an artist within her late in life. She does watercolor. When we do talk to each other on the phone it is as if we were like old friends. I can't really describe it very well. It is as though we grew up together; yet there are no memories of growing up together.

This past Jan. 17th, she lost her husband of 40 years very suddenly. I cannot even begin to fathom the depth of her loss and grief. Grieving is work as many of you know (and some too well). So, you might say, she is working through it.

She just created a blog today. If you feel so inclined, please stop by and read her first post. It talks about this new adjustment in her life, this new journey. This blog is a huge step for her. Make sure you have Kleenex handy-it is beautifully written and written from the heart. If you feel so inclined, please leave her a comment. Her name is Carol. My heartfelt thanks to those of you who do stop by to see her blog and comment.

This is her blog: http://roseberryhillart.blogspot.com/

Now, back to the shadows. Every week, a group of us from around the world post our shadow shots over at Hey Harriet. Entertain your muse and be amused by stopping by to see what others have posted!

You can view all of my 2009 Shadow Shot Sunday images on my Flickr account. Click here and then select the "Shadow Shot" set.