the earth ink

Brunch. The word is nearly synonymous with community. A brunch brings people together. It honors its guests with flavours and friendship. People gather around food to share and communicate - and some of life's most intimate moments are exchanged over a meal. In the United Arab Emirates hotels know how to do brunch well. It's a Friday brunch - Friday is the first day of the weekend in the Arabian Peninsula. Gathering together for a fine food frenzy is an award for reaching the end of the work week and a beautiful way to celebrate the weekend, among other things. Extravagant and artful culinary displays thoughtfully adorn every corner of chosen resort restaurants. Flavours and colours allure the eye as much as they tantalise the tastebuds and entice every patron's nose with fragrant and bold aromas. Sensational seafood, mounds of cheeses, grapes, nuts, endless roasts of lamb and fine cuts of Australian beef, turkey, chicken, shawarma, salads, fruits, breads, alongsid...

It is August. Light is fleeting, but beautiful. Though light begins to touch the sky again on Antarctica's coastline, the sun has not risen yet - nor has it popped above the horizon in nearly four months. August is the coldest month in Antarctica. Nose hairs freeze and skin cracks due to the lack of humidity - though exposed skin is hard to find. Privileged to accompany professional photographer and director of Antarctica: A Year on Ice , Anthony Powell out on the sea ice, this photo was captured as light reflected off white pressure ridges in the Ross Sea near Scott Base. Fellow winterover, Joe, stood contemplating his own photo through a hole melted in a slab of ice that pushed up through the sea ice's tempermental frozen coastal crust. In this area, weddell seals will pop up during the summer and summertime contractors and scientists will have to sign up for tours to negotiate the ice formations. In late January, this area to the shoreline will become slushy and unpred...

The Earth Ink has recently moved from Honolulu, Hawaii to Denver, Colorado. In the course of the moving I uncovered one of the first postcards that I designed. In the midst of saying so many goodbyes and leaving those people who became an influential and special part of my life in Hawaii, I read the quote I referenced on the card: Though miles may be between us, we're never far apart, for friendship doesn't count the miles, it's measured by the heart.   -Rozina Hosham-  Letter writing is one of the most beautiful ways to communicate with someone (hence the postcard design), but it has become much more easy to keep in touch with friends with social media and text messages as well.  So, here is looking forward to all the new friends (and The Earth Ink clients) and remembering the heartwarming generosity and hospitality from those who I said "aloha" to in Hawaii!