Laine's Blog, Thinking Out Loud

Clinging Vines

 

Delicate clinging vines - this is a time when clinging is good.

Good for the vine and the wall benefits too, aesthetically.

Is clinging ever good for us? We humans?

 

Holding on to that good or bad feeling - joy or anger?

Being in the moment is preferred, but if you have to cling,

cling to the things that become more beautiful with your clinging,

like a baby's smile or the best day ever in the water with the  boogie board.

It makes you more beautiful to do that!

 

 

 

 

Clinging vine and wall found in Old St. Augustine, Florida.

(This post is from October 4th, 2011, the first week of Laine's Blog.) 

 

Is That You Mom?

 

 

                  Mom?

 

        That's not Mom.

 

                Are you sure?

 

        It's not Mom.

 

                No, too tall I guess.

 

                Mom?

 

        It's not Mom!

 

 

 

 

(This was posted October 5th, 2011, my third post! And now edited a bit too.)

 

Up or Down?

 

Looking up or down?

You...

...today,

looking up or down?

 

(That's the short version of today's post. Here is the long one.)

 

If you're feeling good today, happy and cheerful, be sure to share that

somehow, because you never know how much a heartfelt smile might mean to

someone, how just a smile can save a life.

 

If you're not feeling happy or cheerful, breathe that in

and try to connect to other people who aren't feeling happy,

who are probably trying to figure out why, and how to "fix"

or get rid of it somehow.

If you sit with the feeling and trust that it will pass,

(and you know it will),

at the end of that you will be softer, because you made the

friendship with yourself stronger.

Instead of rejecting that part of yourself, you have

embraced it and your shadow grows smaller

and your heart grows bigger.

 

So, up or down,

It's still you there,

and you're fine,

right where you are.

 

 

 

( I am borrowing from the archives of Laine's Blog. This post is from the first month of my blog, October, 2011, and it speaks for me today.)

(This week will be a walk down memory lane for Laine's blog. Hope that you enjoy it.)

 

When In Doubt...

 

 

...go to the beach.

 

 

 

 

This is what happened...

 

So, over the weekend I had a stomach bug

and I think that it warped my sense of humor.

The photo that was supposed to go with, Famous Last Words, was this one,

 

 

but when I saw the armadillo, I thought it was so cute that I ran with it.

 

Not only that, I forgot that Monday was Earth Day, and only remembered when I went to Publix to buy groceries

and the paper bags were decorated by the local elementary school kids and they were wonderful!

 

Well, duh, I still didn't do an Earth Day post, so here it is.

 

This is an excerpt from a Nikos Kazantzakis novel, St. Francis.

I have had it committed to memory for the better part of my life,

and still love it for the simple way that it celebrates our beautiful and surprising planet.

 

Here it is:

 

There once was an ascetic who died and mounted to Heaven.

He fell deep into God's embrace.

 

He had found the perfect beatitude.

 

One day however he leaned over and spied the earth and one green leaf.

 

'Lord, let me leave,' he said,

'let me leave and touch that green leaf.'

 

 

 

HAPPY HAPPY EARTH DAY!

LOVE THIS PLANET AND EACH OTHER AND THE LOVE WILL GROW AND GROW AND GROW!

 

 

 

 

 

Famous Last Words

 

 

"Watch this!"

 

 

(Apologies to all the armadillos who end up as road kill.

Here's hoping that it is always an adventure for each and every one of you.)

 

 

 

Famous last words seen on a patch on a biker babe's jacket.

See also Cat Meets Armadillo here.

Related articles

Alien Invaders: Armadillos in the Midwest

If I Could Make...

 

If I could make a poem of you

it would be the most beautiful poem alive.

 

Your love is like a balm to my heart

urging me to thrive.

 

 

Poem by Libby Quinn, written for her husband, Jim.

Thanks Libby, for sharing your heart.

Hidden Gifts

 

 

What I have been trying not to say out loud,

is that there are blessings or gifts hidden in tragedies,

and these gifts may not be obvious for some time to come,

but they are there.

 

If we can make a commitment not to let the anger and helplessness

allow us to disconnect,

and instead turn to our friends and families,

and really see them in that deep way that keeps love alive.

 

Then that compassion spreads to our neighbors, and the person behind the counter,

and we become part of the force that moves us away from the madness,

and towards creating a loving and compassionate world.

 

Be gentle with each other and kind and open.

 

 

 

Messy

 

 

Messy days.

Busy days.

 

Messy house.

 

(Messy palm.)

 

 

 

 

 

Palm tree, posterized etc. for fun!

 

Where are our poets? Time is running out. Poems for April, National Poetry Month. Send yours to: [email protected] soon...

They're Back!

 

 

The yellow flowers that grow on the vine that reaches for the heavens,

are back

and bigger than ever.

 

Each morning there is a bouquet of them on my deck.

Gifts from the gods!

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing Is As It Seems...

 

 

Is the world upside down?

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Owls

 

 

Awakened in the middle of the night

to a squeal, followed by a familiar guttural -

"Who who - who whoooooo?

Who who - who whooooooo?"

- right outside my window.

 

I worried for some little creature that might have made the squeal,

and then remembered that baby owls,

who can't yet say, "Who?"

sometimes squeal.

 

 

 

Kept my head under the covers and didn't get out the camera, so using this stock photo from my archives.

 

 

Bursting...Bursted, or All In

 

 

This is a wholehearted amaryllis,

only 4 days after that beautiful bursting bud!

 

 

 

Watery Planet

 

 

In this light and from this distance,

you can get the sense of an ocean having been here,

seeing the different lines of wear and tear along the way.

 

What a watery planet we must have been.

 

 

 

 

Sedona, Arizona. Photo by Paula Post, ©2008

 

 

Eagle Sky

 

 

There's and eagle in this photo, taken last October

against an autumn sky.

 

Recently, from the vantage point of a rented canoe,

I watched an eagle slowly soar over the water

and with an elegant confidence snatch its prey from the willing river

and coast away as easily as I breathe.

 

It was as though time stood still for just that moment

as royalty passed.

 

 

 

 

 

Primal Dream

 

 

Do we share an ancient memory

of a time when life was truly simpler

and our days were spent in the open air,

close to the changing seasons and nature's ways?

 

Our true heritage

as children of this earth,

punctuated by the sounds of drums and exotic horns,

and the call of the wild,

is all but forgotten,

except perhaps in our deepest dreams.

 

 

 

 

Thanks to the kindness of these Pre-Columbian dancers of Xochitlalpan for letting me take their photograph after the 500 year celebration of La Florida in St. Augustine.

Bursting With Life

 

 

Wouldn't it be great

if,

everyday

you realized that you are bursting with life?

 

That the packet of your body is loaded with energy,

and beauty and love and trust

and an unstoppable urge

to be alive

and

well

 and

happy?

 

 

Watch out world!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This perennial, quadruple amaryllis is one of the joys of my springtime. Thanks Pc and Tc!

  

Blue

 

 

99.9% BLUE!

What's your favorite color?

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, on a blue day.

In The Sunshine

 

 

Flags in the sunshine

are irresistibly

bright.

 

 

 

The Prince of Whales Restaurant, Cuna Street, St. Augustine, Florida, flying her flags!

Even in Paris!

 

 

There is a saying -

The rain falls on everyone -

and I might add,

even in Paris!

 

 

 

 

Paris café photo by Patrice Goham, © 2012.

Thanks Patrice!

What's In Your Shadow?

 

 

If someone asked you what the dominant emotion of your childhood was,

what would your answer be?

 

This happened to me and it wasn't a trusted friend or a therapist who posed the question,

but someone I cleaned for who could engage me in interesting conversations.

 

My uninhibited response was, "shame."

As I said the word I could feel what a deep tragedy it was,

a terrible legacy and a heavy burden for a child to carry.

But it was the truth,

my truth.

 

 

 

Shadow cast on St. Augustine Beach, in broad daylight.

 

Tulips Going By

 

 

Tulips going by,

as all things must,

beautifully.

 

 

 

 

Photo by Gilda Strutz ©2013. Thanks Gilda!

 

(It's National Poetry Month, so dust off those gems that you've jotted down and submit them to [email protected].

Poems will be published the last week of April, so submit by the 19th.

Add photos if you'd like.

Thanks, and don't be shy.)

 

P.S. Play a trick on someone today, it's April Fool's Day, but not on me!