Focus on Life: Week 46 - Reflect

This is week 46 for the Focusing On Life: 52 Photos weekly photography challenge and our host, Sally, from over at the Studio Sublime gave us this prompt:

 

 

 

Week 46: Reflect

 

"The start of the Holiday season is coming up quickly whether we are ready or not, so before jumping in to all the hustle and bustle let's take a moment to slow down and reflect on all the joy, peace, happiness and love we already have in our life."

 

Wow - how on earth do I capture all the joy, peace, happiness and love that surrounds me in one photo - especially when all those I love and find joy with are spread through out the country?

 

Yep - a bit more challenging than it sounded when I first read this prompt last Sunday!! 

 

Last year during this time of year I was whining to my brother-in-law (aka - Older Wiser One) one day about how rude people were during the Holiday Season and how I thought this was supposed to be the "Happiest Time of the Year!"  And  his response went something like this,....

 

"There are people who don't feel the same as you do during this time of year Shelly because maybe they've lost a loved one and they're missing them.  Or maybe they can't be with the ones they love during the holidays and this makes them sad. Or, perhaps they are trying to figure out how they're going to put food on the table and they're worried there won't be enough money to feed the ones they love. Or maybe, they just don't have people around them who care about them like you do."

 

UGGHHHH! 
'Older-Wiser-One' is such a downer sometimes! 
But he was right. 

I needed to step out of my 'bubble' and realize how lucky I was and just accept things for what they were and not expect everyone to feel the same or act the same as I was acting and feeling.
(Just take things as they come and don't judge or be offended!)

 

So, this week I chose to "Reflect" on how lucky I am. 
(Truly Blessed - despite how some weeks I seem to forget this!)

 

And I wish those who might be feeling down or in despair the comfort and luxury of Joy, Peace, Happiness and Love as our year slides into its final weeks.

 

 

 

 

Until Next Time,

May Everyone Find Their Little Slice of Joy, Peace, Happiness and LOVE!

 

Cheers,

~Shel~

Focus on Life: 52 Photos - Week 45 - Industrial Photography

It's week 45 (Holy Cow Smokes Batman, where has the year gone?!) for the Focusing on Life: 52 Photos weekly challenge hosted by the talented Sally Russick over at

The Studio Sublime.

 

 

 

Our prompt this week was:

 

Industrial Photography:  It's amazing how something perceived as cold and whose purpose is to perform a function can have a beautiful soul."

 

Well, this got me thinking - as our weekly prompts always do.

 

On Halloween, our son (aka - the Masked Rider) took a pretty good spill on his motorbike while taking it for a spin around the block here in our subdivision. I was at the grocery store when this happened and, long story fairly short,...here's the gist of it.

 

Normally, the "Masked Rider" looks like this when he rides his dirt bike (even around the block, pretty much!):

 

 

 

This day, he was dressed like this:

 

Logan was actually wearing only a tank top, basketball shorts and his riding boots when he crashed.
And, this is Mike's motorbike, which is much smaller than Logan's.

 

And this is what happened when he decided the street would look better paved with his skin than with the asphalt that was already there,....

 

 

Yep - OUCH!  His hands were the worst - well kind of!

 

 

Nope - not a pretty sight.

Didn't feel too good either according to Logan.

 

Lesson learned: always wear your helmet, NO MATTER WHAT!!  And gloves, a long sleeve shirt and some pants couldn't hurt, either! :-) 

 

We're the luckiest and most grateful parents on the planet that he didn't hit his head (which didn't have a helmet on it and although it's pretty hard, it's not that hard!!) and that this didn't turn out worse than it did.

 

But, I thought about what Sally said in her prompt. How something cold and 'industrial' (if you will) can have a beautiful soul.

 

Well, 'Scrape' as he's now referred to, is chomping at the bit to get back on his bike and ride. To him, it has a soul. It's beautiful in his eyes.  (it's his fault he biffed it he said, not the bike's fault)

 

So, here's a piece of 'soul' from his bike:

 

This is a pic I took of his broken muffler.
It wasn't broken in the crash, but it was a kind of cool angle/pic to get - so I grabbed it!

 

 

And yes, he's doing fine - thanks to all of you who follow me on facebook and sent well wishes. They were greatly appreciated!

 

Then there's this. This definitely has a soul. And, it's back in use. It's the water line from Grandma Emma's cabin that burned in the Wallow Fire a few summers back.

 

Utility pipe that was burned in the Wallow Fire at Grandma Hindman's.
It's now in use at the new cabin that's over close to where the old one was.
Yippee!!

 

Now, it's back up and running to the new cabin that's being put in close to where Grandma's was!

 

How beautiful is that?!

 

Not exactly sure if these are considered 'Industrial' photos or not, but I thought this was a very cool prompt this week Sally - I'm looking at things in a totally different manner than before and am excited to see what every one's going to post this weekend.

 

I'm prepping for a show tomorrow, so I may not get to every one's posts until next week - sorry about that!!

 

Now, hop around today and see what other beautiful, industrial souls were found this week!

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Feeling Blessed!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Focus on Life: Week 44~ Saints, Souls, Sugar Skulls and Scares

The prompt from Sally over at The Studio Sublime for Week 44 of Focusing on Life: 52 Photos was this:

 

 

 

Saints, Souls, Sugar Skulls and Scares

 

"Whether 'trick or treating', celebrating the spirits and souls of loved ones that have passed, or having a scream from a scare, this week take a moment to capture a spirit, spider or other spectacle of the season!" 

 

We're celebrating  Dia de los Muertos,

so here's the only thing I captured this week.

 

 

 

 

Sorry, no cool sugar skulls!

But you can see my post about it HERE!

 

Time to hop-along and see what everyone else has captured this week!

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Celebrating the Season!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Focus on Life: Week 40 - Give Us A Smile!

So this week's prompt from Sally over at

The Studio Sublime was, "Give Us A SMILE!"

 

 

 

It really does help to lift the spirits of people when you give them a smile, or you get one in return.

 

These two are always smiling. 

 

The "Masked Rider"(Unmasked!) and his sweet and beautiful girlfriend.

 

Their future's are bright, they are both respectful of each other and those around them, they're funny, smart and all around good 'kids'.  

 

Seeing them happy, makes me smile! 

 

Scroll on down the page here or head over to the Studio Sublime to see who else is smiling and what they're smiling about this week won't you?

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and All Smiles!

Cheers,

~Shel~

 

 

Focus on Life: Week 36 - In Two

This week's prompt from Sally over at

The Studio Sublime for Week 36 of the

Focusing on Life: 52 Photos Challenge was:

 

In Two

 

 

 

"This week, let's focus on things in twos!"

 

And this is exactly what I've been doing ALL WEEK LONG! 

 

Yep,  over 160+ pairs of 'twos' to be exact.

 

 

Ear Wires Galore!

 

But I thought these 'Two' were much more fun (and cute!) so I decided to get a pic of them as well.

 

Say hello to Coco and Kiki, our Peach Faced Lovebirds. 

 

 

Coco and Kiki

 

Coco's 7 years old and Kiki is just 1 year old.  Kiki's a bit more camera shy than Coco.  And, she's got 4, (possibly 5 now, I haven't checked this morning) little eggs she's sitting on.

 

Not sure if they'll develop - her last few batches (or what ever you call them) didn't.  But she's a really good Mama and sits on them almost all day for a few of weeks until she realizes they're not going to amount to anything. 

 

Not sure if I'm ready for 'Grand-Birdies' or not,....

 

I'm down in Tucson this weekend for the Fall Gem, Jewelry and Bead Shows they're having (insert happy squeal here!) and I think I'll find at least "Two" perfect pearls to put on a pair of those ear wires but I may not make it around to every one's posts until Monday when I return.

 

In the meantime, why don't you hop on over to The Studio Sublime and see what other 'twos' popped up in every one's lives this week!

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and 'Two' Much  Fun!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Focus On Life: Week 33 - In Season

For Week 33 of the

Focusing on Life: 52 Photos Challenge,

Sally over at the Studio Sublime

 prompted us with:

 

In Season

 

"What's in Season where you live?  Fruits, vegetables, a certain kind of flower?  Or is it bathing suits and beach umbrellas? Scarves or mittens? This week, do some investigating and search for what is in season where you live!"

 

Well, it's central Arizona in the summer.

And it's hot.

Really hot.

109 today to be exact.

So I guess you could say

THE SUN is in season.

 

The morning sun on my vines

 

 

The Sun's ALWAYS in season here. 

 

The Phoenix metro area is referred to as
"The Valley of the Sun"

 

Yep, that pretty much covers it alright!

 

Oh, and these guys,

 

Gorgeous 'field' of Saguaro Cacti
(Taken with  my iPhone out the car window while going about 65 down the freeway.
I was a passenger, by the way, not the driver when this was taken!! LOL!!)

 

 

They're always in season, too.

 

Truthfully, I never tire of either!

(the high temps I could do with out, but I love the sun and would just die
living in a place where it was gloomy and rainy more than a few days a year!)

 

So, what's "In Season" where you live? 

 

Hop on over to the Studio Sublime and check out all the wonderful "In Season" Shots people snapped this week!

*Sally might still be having some trouble with her site - so check out the link below for this week's challenge! Enjoy!*

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Sunshine!

Cheers,

~Shel~

 

 

 

Focusing on Life: Week 24 - GREEN!

This week's prompt from Sally over at

The Studio Sublime

for the weekly photo challenge was:

 

GREEN! 

 

"The color of balance, learning, growth and harmony! 

GREEN evokes feelings of calm and

symbolizes self-respect and well being. 

 

*Grab your cameras and find some green! 

*Note: Your photo as a whole does not have to be all green in color.

 

Look for pops of green against a contrasting color or muted colors! Have Fun!" 

 

 

I just LOVE Green!!

 

Click on any photo to enlarge

 

It's one of my favorite colors!

 

 

So, last weekend I was at my sis's cabin having "Girlfriend's Weekend" and we were surrounded by GREEN.

 

 

Flowers in the meadow by the  Cabin

 

Which is totally awesome given the fact that a couple of summer's ago the Wallow Fire ripped right through the meadow you see pictured here and took out so much beautiful GREEN!

 

 

The Meadow

 

 

But I think this is my favorite GREEN.

 

 

This is Coco, our Peach-Faced Love Bird. He's about 7 years old and is a bit camera shy!
His "Honey" is named Kiki and she's very shy! She's also sitting on some 'egglets'
at the momemnt - Coco's gonna be a Daddy!!

 

Coco Green!

 

 

Hop on over to The Studio Sublime and check out all the GREEN that captured every one's attention this week!

 

Until Next Time,

 

Peace, Love and GREEN, Baby!

 

Cheers,

~Shel~