Last Minute Holiday Shopping

Hey all, it's easy to shop for handmade gifts at the Shack.

Click on over to choose from fine art prints, minimalist jewelry & coastal photographs,

or give the gift of choice ~ Shimmering Shack's gift certificates can be emailed to your friends

giving you more time to relax & enjoy the season . . . Enjoy!

Fall at the Shack

It's fall on California's central coast, my favorite time of year here. The days are warm & sunny, & the nights are blissfully cool. The light is crisp & clear, & the shadows are strong. Visitors have left for the winter leaving wide expanses of sand free for locals to roam. Local harvests are plentiful, & artists open their studios for visitors.

As we settle in for the cooler days to come, Shimmering Shack is featuring art & photos that bring the outdoors in & a selection of bracelets & rings in rich warm tones to help you celebrate the season in style.

Visit Shimmering Shack's Shop for a leisurely browse through a variety of handmade goods designed to keep you & your home feeling cozy & warm.

 




















With the holidays just around the corner, the Shack's added gift certificates & a gift wrap option to make shopping for a unique hand-made gift easier.

Wishing you the best of the season. No matter where you are. From my little corner of the planet to yours.

Pelicans, whales & humans.....

A few weeks back I ventured out to the bay where whales were feeding. I figured it was a good excuse to head out to the pier for a fish taco. On the way I was stuck in a traffic jam, very rare around these parts. As I inched along the coast I realized that it was a whale-induced traffic jam. There was a large group of paparazzi with tripods & telephoto lenses hoping to catch a spectacular breaching. 

The pier was packed with people armed with iPhones. It was a beautiful late afternoon & the bay was full of wildlife. Oddly, people were complaining that whales weren’t breaching in front of them. They were disappointed that they weren’t able to capture the spectacular shot that they’d apparently seen on the news.

Normally people visiting the pier are excited when they see a few sea lions. That afternoon there were more sea lions & birds than I’ve ever seen there, but no one seemed to notice. 

I found myself fascinated with pelicans & deep in thought. I was glad that there were so many people interested in traveling out to the coast to see whales, but found it kind of sad that they didn’t seem to be interested in just watching whales & enjoying the afternoon.

  

It made me think about how we look at & experience the world around us. How our expectations can limit our vision & our openness to our surroundings & new experiences. About how humans assign value to things & sometimes feel the need to own them before they can be enjoyed.

All in all, an afternoon well spent. The light was crisp, the fish taco was great & I loved the way these pelicans were ignoring the scene on the pier & taking over in a pirate-like way.

Pelican prints available here.