Shutter Sisters

how i spent my summer vacation

By

It’s the standard title to the classic back-to-school assignment.  An essay scrawled in No. 2 pencil. Maybe I’m feeling nostalgic for the comfort of classrooms because my son is starting kindergarten in less than a week. Maybe, even now as a grown woman, I still have a hard time fitting all of the summer experience onto the front and back of a single loose leaf page.

Over the past 17 days my head has been in the clouds.  Literally.  I have never been so adrift in space and grounded in reality at coinciding times.  Airplanes, subways, cabs, and trains touching me down in the time warp space where reality meets the virtual world. I could not have imagined a more beautiful place to be.  Face to face, embraced in strength, standing in a circle of empowering women, soaking up inspiration, bending at the waist in howls of life altering laughter, hand in hand with truth, eye to eye with what the future holds.

Awash in beauty.

I spent this summer traveling. I spent this summer being real. I spent this summer walking, putting miles on my shoes. I spent this summer taking in everything around me.  I spent this summer learning to be in the moment.

How did you spend your summer? As this month is coming to a close, look through your photo archives and discover what stands out as the most memorable experience. Then share with us your back-to-school essay in photo form!

Comments

  9. my summer requires 2 essays both centered around this magical bond photography breeds.
    first it was the summer of the green mtns and FROGGING. i know if you ask my son what he did this summer it will be 2 things boogie boarding and frogging. it was a magical 4 days and i could not love these photos more.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/14811117@N02/sets/72157624239903441/

    and then my second essay was spent with you in that grand city nyc.
    just love.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/14811117@N02/sets/72157624551703127/

  10. I'm a native Floridian, but three years ago my husband and I moved to his home state of Kentucky, where I experienced real winters and autumns for the first time. The winter's have been harsh (first snows in October, an ice storm, cold weather for 7 months out of the year), but I resolved to myself to try and live by these words from Henry David Thoreau: “Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.”

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/cardboardsea/4778778860/

    And it's something special to watch someone get smarter every day. He grew leaps and bounds this summer:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/cardboardsea/4883877634/

  12. For these back-to-school essays it seems I would often write about the last experience even when the greatest fun might have been early in the summer. This year the most memorable actually was the most recent.
    My daughter and I had a awesome, last of the summer, trip to Niagara Falls. The trip was much more amazing than i dreamed it would be. There was such a good mix of fun and relaxation. It couldn't have been better.
    I summed up my trip pretty well when I created these collages.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnsun/4870660362/in/set-72157622433823473/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnsun/4870050069/in/set-72157622433823473/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnsun/4870659964/in/set-72157622433823473/

  13. If only I could take my 3 boys and travel to far off places like Africa, India, Indonesia, Brazil etc… but I am too afraid to go without the help of my husband. Instead, for now, you'll have to see my photographs of Nantucket Island, Boston and New York City.

    Come by for a visit.
    http://aspenreallife.com

  17. I live is the most beautiful vacation spot ever… Northern California, so it was a summer Stay-cation for me!

    SF Ocean Beach with the pups
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4884692224/

    Fort Baker
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4884686800/in/photostream/

    Berkeley
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4884035817/in/photostream/

    Hike in Sunol
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4884636930/in/photostream/

    San Rafael sidewalk art festival
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4713001889/in/photostream/

    Big Sur
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4713635752/in/photostream/

    Palace of Fine Arts
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4712956943/in/photostream/

    Coit Tower
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4712955519/in/photostream/

    Half Moon Bay
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4713528412/in/photostream/

    There's no place like home!

  18. I live in one of the greatest vacation places in the world, Northern California, so for me it was a Summer STAY-cation!

    Half Moon Bay
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4713528412/in/photostream/

    Coit Tower
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4712955519/in/photostream/

    Palace of Fine Arts
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4712956943/in/photostream/

    Big Sur
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4713635752/in/photostream/

    San Rafael Sidewalk Art Festival
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4713001889/in/photostream/

    Hike in Sunol
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4884636930/in/photostream/

    Berkeley
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4884035817/in/photostream/

    Fort Baker
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4884686800/in/photostream/

    SF Ocean Beach
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettina2/4884692224/in/photostream/

  20. not one iota of me can fathom that august has turned its corner towards september! already! must me that our summer of staycation has warped all notion of time for my family and i. it's the best i can do to offer up a mosaic of my "picture summer" goodies from july for now. i'll try to get my head around august, oh, i dunno… some time in early september?

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessa_r/4900777953/

  24. I have spent the summer travelling in Europe (Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland and England next week) and finding bits and pieces of myself in my photography that I never realized were there. It's been an amazing summer of collecting these images, the bits and pieces, and putting together a picture of my true self. Putting words to the pictures, my essay is an ongoing project, being written and rewritten everyday on my blog, http://www.kateyeview.com.

  27. Living on the coast of Northern California generally is the perfect place to be, but this year it has been all grey, all the time.

    Floating on air in search of sun, we eventually descended upon Klamath, Oregon. Beautiful, cool and plentiful water flowing through the Wood River. Meadows of green and gold grasses, bucolic scenes of livestock with the air teeming with osprey, hawks, bald and golden eagles high in the sky, butterflies and dragonflies along the river edges and trout moving through the water.

    I felt like I was in Disneyland, finding wonderful (and sometimes startled) surprises most everywhere I looked.

    http://humbirdhum.wordpress.com

  30. love this up in the air photo! i have a few from my trip to florida that i have been meaning to post.

    attending, being a bridesmaid for, and getting to be one of the photographers at my best friend's wedding was definitely the best part of my summer…

    these photos do not really capture "summer", but it is my favorite photo from the wedding, so i'll share it:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/28567264@N05/4870605396/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/28567264@N05/4870081752/

  33. It feels like heaven, right? Nature is really the most beautiful gift that God gave to us. I also love taking pictures while in a plane. Seeing wonders from above is like loving the planet more especially when I was going to <a href="http://www.aqua-gulf.com/">Panama City, beach vacation rental</a>s, and the views are just breathtaking.