A Gift From the Sea

"There are other beaches to explore, there are more shells to find. This is only the beginning." Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Anne Morrow Lindbergh was an author, poet and wife of famed aviator pioneer, Charles Lindbergh. She was vaulted into celebrity by her marriage, and was not comfortable being in the spotlight - even before the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the couple's first child. The frenzied attention from the press caused the couple to first move to England, and later to the small island of Illiec, off the coast of Brittany in France. They later moved to Hawaii, where Charles died in 1974. Anne wrote her book, "Gift From the Sea," in 1955 while on vacation on Captiva Island, Florida. The book is written in essay style and touches on youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment. The slim volume became a best seller and has sold over 3 million copies and has been translated into 45 languages. Anne moved to a cottage built on her daughter's Vermont farm in the late 1990s. She died in 2001 at the age of 94.

"The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach — waiting for a gift from the sea." AML

New Fall Projects

Google Images Autumn Photo

A couple of things I want to share with you: I've been asked to be a blogger for a local website that's all about our town! I'm so excited about this opportunity! I'll post a blog twice per month for their website about places to visit in our town/county and the surrounding area. Since taking day trips is one of my favorite pass-times anyway, this is a dream job!

I've also been working on my Zazzle.com shop and have added Autumn note cards and greeting cards that feature my paintings and photography. I've also designed several new iphone cases, as well. I'll be adding holiday cards soon, too - for those of you who still send out cards. (I should take a survey!) I admit, I don't send out nearly as many as I used to, and sometimes I miss sending and receiving them! Here's the link to my Zazzle shop and a sample of one of my autumn note cards:

http://www.zazzle.com/cindyadkinsdesigns

 

Autumn Note Card by CindyAdkinsDesigns
Shop for a different greeting card template online at zazzle
I hope you're enjoying the same beautiful fall weather that we are in northwest Ohio. Have a good weekend!

Until next time,
Cindy

Hometown Adventure

I recently took a walk around my town, specifically to take photos of some of the beautiful architecture and old homes, wrought iron fencing and gardens, etc. I'm on a quest to rediscover all my town has to offer and really look at things with "new" eyes. It's kind of amazing what's really out there...waiting to be discovered, if we just take the time to look. Here's some of what I found:

A "secret" garden

A "hidden" mansion



Downtown Architecture

The home of my town's first millionaire. Built in 1853, and now the site of the county historical museum.

Old cobblestones beneath the crumbled blacktop

...and one of the lovely, tree-lined streets.

I hope you enjoyed this short tour, and maybe it will inspire you to take a "new" look around your own hometown.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone! 

Until next time,

Cindy



Big Sur, California - Two Year Anniversary

Today, I've been thinking of when I lived in California. I lived in Sacramento for 17 years, but was lucky to be able to visit the central coast and the Carmel/Monterey/Big Sur area several times a year. To me, it's one of the most beautiful places in the world and certainly one of my all-time favorite places to visit. Since I was thinking about it so much today, I decided to repost my very first blog post, which was something I wrote about the Big Sur area. I looked back in my posts to retrieve it - and was shocked to see I wrote it exactly 2 years ago today!! So, today, is my two-year blogging anniversary and it snuck up on me! Call it coincidence or serendipity, but I think it's so crazy wonderful that I decided to repost this today! So, I hope you enjoy it...and the photos, too (which are mine, unless otherwise noted.)

Photo Courtesy: mikelevin.com

It has been said that "Big Sur is as much a feeling as it is a place.” Along this stretch of Pacific Ocean coastline in central California, steep cliffs plunge into the sea and the surf beats endlessly against the rocks. In secluded coves, the sea gently washes in and out, as sea crabs scuttle across the open beach. The area is almost desolate and the only indication one gets of habitation is the occasional mailbox or rooftop peaking through the lush forest. Few homes or roads disturb the landscape, except for the curving Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) that in itself is a wondrous and breathtaking thing that seems "at one" with the beauty over which it journeys. The cry of seagulls circling overhead and the barking of a sea lion is often the only sound one hears to interrupt the constant roar of the surf. Such power...yet such peace. In the words of e.e. cummings: “for whatever we lose (like a you or a me) / it's always ourselves we find in the sea.”

 

 Photo Courtesy: Henry Miller Memorial Library, henrymiller.org

 

 

Until next time,

Cindy