Moonlight through the trees
shining on the clouds
lights my way home.
Backyard Moonlight
©LaineQuinn2024
The beauty around us
No matter where you are
There is beauty around you!
The Inlet St. Augustine
©LaineQuinn 2022
Like snakes, lizards shed their skin.
This one is in the middle of that shedding,
frozen almost, not moving.
It must be a difficult process,
making them vulnerable,
like us when we go through changes -
shedding the layers of our defenses,
opening up to the world and love!
When I was much younger
I used to take vacation days from myself!
I would pretend to be the person that I really wanted to be!
It has taken most of my life
to shed the things that were in the way of my being that person.
But here I am, most days,
the person I always wanted to be!
(Too bad I couldn't get new skin too!)
©LaineQuinn 2022
Does anyone remember this?
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
That worthiness is the thing that was missing in my early years.
There is a book that has convinced me that I am equally deserving of my life
as anyone or anything in the universe -
that the universe spawned everything and everyone to this moment and beyond -
each of us unique and meant to be here!
The book, is THE GREAT WORK, OUR WAY INTO THE FUTURE, by Thomas Berry
In this book you find the amazing story of the indigenous peoples of the Americas and how they revered their place in nature and the universe, and had deep respect for all life.
"Desiderata" was translated by Max Ehrmann in 1927
Life longing for itself...
Quote from Sweet Honey on the Rocks quoting Kahlil Gibran.
Tadpoles, 2 generations, life goes on and on - no matter what the humans are doing!
Birds, bees, bugs, frogs,squirrells - all of it!
And Why not?
©LaineQuinn 2022
The way the light catches the sails
at a certain time of day...
it's irresistible,
delicious,
wonderful.
The Schooner Freedom returning to safe harbor.
©LaineQuinn 2022
I am a thing
among other things.
That line from the book The Alphabet of Grace,
seemed to me to equalize everything.
Me, the lizard, the leaf, you-
We are all just here,
doing what we do
with all of the rest of nature and things!
Why be so serious?
Relax.
Enjoy!
You are just a thing
among other things!
No better
and no worse either!
Book by Frederick Buechner.
Photo of lizard on a thing, at the edge of the garden, in St. Augustine Florida.
© 2021 Laine Quinn
Parts reprinted from Laine's Blog!
Sea oats in the breeze
Sun getting ready to set
One more wave - no two!
Vilano Beach, July 2022
©2022 LaineQuinn
What's up is down!
And what's down is up!
It stretches the mind...
Reflections
©LaineQuinn2022
Unfortunately, Monday, there was no photograph of the snails as I moved them into the grass and continued walking the dog.
So, to make up for it, here are another photo for you to enjoy!
A tiny frog, just graduated from the tadpole pond!
©LaineQuinn2022
Try not to resist an urge toward kindness -
kindness and compassion-
especially towards those closest to you.
Kindness has a way of smoothing the edges and easing the way.
Lucy the cat spreading the love!
©LaineQuinn 2022
There are songs that we sang forever
and perhaps never noticed the poetry of the lyrics,
like this line:
..a drop of golden sun.
From which song?
?
Thanks to J.M. Akers - The song is from "The Sound Of Music", ...do a dear a female dear, ray - a drop of golden sun!
Reprinted from June 2013 from LainesBlog
©LaineQuinn
"...flowering plants were revolutionary in their appearance on the earth
some two hundred million years ago,
are dominant on land from the arctic to the tropics,
and are crucial to our survival."
Since reading those lines in Rebecca Solnit's book, Orwell's Roses,
I haven't been able to look at a flower without a deep sense of wonder
and gratitude!
Without flowers and their seeds,
birds and humans would not have evolved.
Period!
Without flowers and their seeds,
birds and humans would disappear from the earth.
Amen!
Quote from Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit
Flowers from Baltimore and St. Augustine, Mums, Lilies, Hibiscus
©LaineQuinn 2022
This solid chair, situated in a garden beneath a huge live oak tree is made up of trillions of bouncing molecules,
just like you and me.
Sometimes we feel as grounded as a boulder.
Other times scattered as the northern lights.
Most days fall somewhere in between.
Having unshakable faith that life is unfolding exactly as it is meant to do is difficult at times,
but worth whatever effort it might take to arrive there.
So, sit, and be grateful for who you are, no less than the moon and stars and the mighty oaks.
Photograph taken at the Cummer Museum and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida
There we are
on that little blue ball
happily floating through space
that gorgeous blue ball
we call our home planet
spinning out the seasons
and the days and nights
as we delight in the joys of being alive
seeing the flowers and birds and sunsets
oceans rivers mountains and valleys -
our very own earth.
NASA photo of the earth from outer space.
Collectively it is time that we imagine a better world.
No matter what happens in the next months or years,
it is time to put our minds on better things.
Call it the power of positive thinking,
of visualizing,
of collective prayer -
it all works and can change the world.
Psychopathic leaders of politics and industry - be warned -
it is time for the Human takeover of our world.
Time to imagine a world where we live harmoniously with the earth,
harmoniously with each other - near and far,
harmoniously with all creatures -great and small.
A world in partnership.
A world of compassion and love and generosity.
If it fits in your mind,
it fits in your world.
We are more than what we can imagine.
Collectively it's time to imagine
what comes after -
to dream big and have faith in the human heart,
in the human desire for connection.
Photo of Park in Godollo Hungary, outside Budapest.
Reprinted from Laine's Blog, October 2020
©LaineQuinn2022
An old Spring House in San Miguel, Mexico -
a reminder to be grounded -
in our friendship with ourselves,
with nature,
with each other.
Grounded in uncertainty, and upheaval,
and accepting the times we find ourselves in.
Grounded in whatever way you get grounded,
for your very own peace of mind.
Reprinted from LainesBlog October 20, 2020.
©LaineQuinn 2022
What if you are here on this beautiful, physical, gravity based planet,
simply because you want to be here?
You like a challenge!
Reprinted from LainesBlog
©LaineQuinn 2022
Resembling luminescent jewels,
the colors of the ocean at sunset
on a calm evening,
raise the spirit,
like the sails of a great ship filling with a welcome breeze.
Filling the heart with Love!
Happy Valentine's Day!
St. Augustine Beach, 2.10.14.
Reprinted from Laine's blog, 2014, with additions!
©LaineQuinn2022
Landing gear down...
Check.
Landing gear up...
Check.
These Brown Pelicans, up close enough to see the accordion wings against the sky,
are proof positive that we live in a very beautiful, complex,
and fascinating world.
You are clear for takeoff!
Saint Augustine Beach Pier, once again hosting the people who fish and the birds who love them.
Reprinted from LainesBlog, February 2015
©LaineQuinn 2022
Remember when people used to write letters to one another?
A lost art, to be sure.
Love letters on Flagler's Fishing Pier.
Reprinted from LainesBlog, February 2015, with additions from Laine!
©LaineQuinn2022
Does a pelican in the water ever doubt that he can raise his sails and take to the air?
In three powerful strokes, this huge bird is airborne and glides away.
©LaineQuinn 2022, Republished from LainesBlog January 2012.
Coming up for air.
Thanks to Jake for encouraging me to get my camera out, otherwise I would have missed this shot! Cape Charles, Virginia, August, 2010.
©Laine Quinn 2022, Reprinted fro LainesBlog, January 2012
My Christmas Tree this year is a Live Oak Tree!
The tinsel is silvery Spanish Moss.
The ornaments are Squirrels and Birds and Lizards!
The Star at the top is our very own Star, the Sun!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!
And this is my Christmas Card to Everyone!
With Love,
Laine
Sign created by Aden with Lizard lazing on top!
Birds are, Black and White Warbler, Red Bellied Woodpecker and unknown maybe sparrow or warbler!
©Laine Quinn 2021
It is a lie - any talk of God
that does not
comfort
you.
Poem by Meister Eckhart, 13th century mystic, translated by Daniel Ladinsky.
The sun sets on another day
another week
another year.
©2021 Laine Quinn
Inlet, Vilano Beach
Grateful for all the people who have come and gone in my life
and helped me to become the person I am today -
for better or worse!
Grateful for all the things that are going right in my world -
and there are many.
Grateful as always for the sun and moon and stars,
for blue skies and rain and trees and flowers.
We are all made of the same star stuff -
the same stuff.
All one.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Sunrise, St Augustine Beach
©LaineQuinn2021
Everything has to do with loving
and not loving.
Rumi
From Laine's Blog, November 2018.
©LaineQuinn 2021
Just because light and color conspired to spread joy!
Reprinted from Laine's Blog November 2020 with added photo!
©LaineQuinn2021
Life can be overwhelming at times - aging parents, sick children, losing a treasured pet.
Even joy can flood the heart, so much beauty, so much love, so complex.
That's where our friends come in.
They walk with us even when we are apart and help us to make sense of our mortal lives.
Where would we be without our friends?
Here's to old friends, new friends and the friends we are about to meet!
Thank You!
Reprinted from Laine's Blog, November, 2011
©LaineQuinn 2021
Sculpture found at Cummer Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida.