Did you know
that a total solar eclipse happens
every 18 months?
Mostly in places where humans can't see it!
In your particular location,
totality happens
every 400 years!
Today is a big day!
Partial eclipse in Florida today, next total eclipse of the sun that can be viewed from Florida in 2045!
Say yes to the unique individual self that you are
in this time and space.
You might have been here before
and you might come again,
but never as this particular person
in this particular time
and this particular space -
ever evolving
with our expanding universe.
Say yes!
To your place in the world of wonder!
Photo credit: Cosmos Eric Coles and Mel Helm 2015, from The Astronomy Picture of the Day, APOD.
Hibiscus, the state flower of Hawaii was once commonly called good night at noon
because it blossoms for only a short time!
I like that, "good night at noon!"
Some days are like that.
From the book Garden Flower Folklore by Laura C. Martin
Blog post from Laine's Blog, May 2012, with permission!
©Laine Quinn 2023
Sometimes it is impossible to remember
that we live on an improbable accidental planet
that might not have come into existence
without the perfect balance
of gravity and heat and cold and atmosphere and water
at the perfect distance from our star.
Spinning on its axis and orbiting around the sun
with the moon and our sister and brother planets,
and traveling with our Milky Way Galaxy
through space as our Universe still expands -
our little spaceship Earth is in perfect harmony
with the forces that made it all possible to begin with.
And here we are, the "children of flowers" on an evolutionary journey
65 million years in the making and still going strong.
So relax,
Earth is on auto pilot and won't fall from the sky anytime soon!
This is our time to revel in being alive in a world of wonder!
We do live in a beautiful world!
Photo: NASA, Earth Rise one of the first photographs of Earth from space.
Children of Flowers, borrowed from Maria Papova and her Marginalian.
Jupiter sailing past Venus in the early morning hour.
Venus is the brighter planet although Jupiter is larger, it's much farther away!
That was Sunday morning, just before sunrise.
Each day Jupiter moves farther away from Venus.
But what a wonderful pair!
©LaineQuinn 2022, St. Augustine, 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.
That we dedicate a day for the celebration of the Earth
is absurd and also necessary.
The, so called, "most intelligent" creatures that life has spawned
can't even protect that which sustains their very existence.
(It wasn't always this way.)
There are people involved in the destruction of our air, water and soil
who just don't care.
They don't see the earth as a living, breathing, life sustaining entity -
all they see is profit and power.
They continue to exploit the natural resources that belong to all of us
without consideration of the consequences,
much to our peril
and all in pursuit of profit and the power that comes with it.
Promises are made and broken.
They just don't care.
You and me - we can do our part and should continue to do our part -
but until corporations and governments stop tearing the fabric of life apart
we are doomed.
It is a few at the top,
the very top of the pyramid who allow the destruction to continue.
There are new promises in the works that will help to mitigate the destruction -
let's hope it is not too little too late
and that those promises are not broken.
It is time to hold their feet to the fire -
hold those in power accountable and don't let up.
"We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny.
Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly."
Martin Luther King Jr.
©LaineQuinn 2021
In an attempt to remain positive in my blog, I must say that I am positive that we are in a very precarious situation!
Every day brings us closer to moonlight
But
Where is she now?
(Crescent moon coming soon to your neighborhood sky!)
In Honor of National Poetry Month, an original!
©Laine Quinn
Photos taken in 2013, the moon and Venus just after sunset.
Simple.
A little planet in a grand and glorious galaxy
in an unimaginable universe.
Our little rock is spinning on its axis,
rotating around our star, the sun,
which is rotating in the galaxy,
which is traveling in the universe,
with other galaxies
and planets and stars.
We've learned so much in the last 50 years!
What will we find in the next 50 years?
Time will tell!
We Are all Humans -
wonderfully diverse -
who emerged from the same continent.
The differences,
Asian, Indian, Eskimo, Indigenous,
so called Whites, Blacks -
are just labels - tags - meaningless.
All Human life on the planet emerged from the continent
People dispersed to all parts of the globe
over thousands and thousands and thousands of years,
adjusting to the different environments in diverse ways.
All of the continents on earth are connected
deep in the earth.
All peoples on earth are connected
deep in their hearts.
In a sense,
we are all African!
But truly,
All part of one Human family.
Photo Credit: NASA 1,000,000 miles from earth, Africa and Europe.
Social distancing not required...
Cat (DJ) and Armadillo, the Moon and Venus, Two Butterflies, Cat (Lucy) kisses Gator, Two Web-footed friends, Five Turtles! All Safe.
When you have peaceful, cooperative cities
that are unfortified:
no walls or fortresses -
that have not developed weapons of death:
there was no need for those things,
as their neighbors were friendly -
and violent warring tribes from the surrounding arid lands
invade and destroy everything in their path,
installing their vengeful, jealous gods to displace the nurturing goddess -
things change.
And they change dramatically and violently and relatively quickly.
1,000 or 2,000 years to undo 30,000 years
of human development.
In her book, The Chalice and the Blade,
Eisler makes the case that patriarchy and its elevation
of war and fear and power over others
is an anomaly,
a blip on the evolutionary screen.
The Pale Blue Dot
View from Voyager, Earth as seen from deep space. NASA
It's a detour off the path of human development.
A mistake that needs correction.
That must be corrected.
Photo of the Earth from deep space. APOD "ThePaleBlueDot"
Astronomy Picture of the Day, February 14th 2020.
The American Experiment has never lived up to its promise
of self-government and Liberty and Justice for All.
From the start it was non-inclusive, predatory and rigged
in favor of the "ruling class", the so called "people".
But this doesn't mean that a course correction wouldn't change things for the better.
America, (which has never been great, truth be told) can be good.
The promise is there and the vision is there and the American People
are good people.
Corporations are not people and have not been good for the people for some time.
Greed is not pretty, not for Americans or for the planet.
Have we reached the pinnacle of American Greed?
Let them go to Mars.
Let's stay here and take care of our own beautiful ailing planet.
Sorry for the political post, it has been brewing for awhile.
©2019 Laine Quinn Flag at the Oldest Wooden School House in St. Augustine Florida.
Through the trees...
June 17th Full moon!
©Laine Quinn 2019
Disney = long lines and sore feet and exhaustion!
BUT...
the Avatar ride in Pandora was worth it all!
You are gliding on a Banshee through the Fantastic Pandora landscape,
even though you never leave your seat,
you duck and lean to avoid hitting branches and arches and going into the ocean!
WILD!
A giant plant, along the 3 hour walk to the ride!
Very well thought out exhibit!
© Laine Quinn 2019.
Many years ago I began a novel by Zora Neale Hurston and couldn't find the rhythm of her words
and abandoned the effort.
About a month ago I picked up her autobiography, "Dust Tracks on a Road" at our local Library and was blown away.
Here is a writer with an understanding of life and love and the world, with a truly unique view into the cosmos,
that rivals the greatest poets.
Ms. Hurston can lift you up and encourage you to get on with it, no matter what,
because this is a BIG Beautiful Life!
She hears the wisdom of the trees and understands that we are all ONE
and that one day our bodies will join the earth and the earth will fall into the sun
and the sun will implode into the universe
and we are ALL a part of that.
That is where we came from and that is where we will go.
"Dust Tracks" was written in 1941, before Stephen Hawking came up with the Big Bang Theory,
before the Hubble Telescope,
and before researchers confirmed that trees are actually communicating with one another (and with Ms. Hurston.)
Since reading her autobiography, I have read "Their Eyes Were Watching God"
and found the rhythm of her dialogue and loved every word.
Zora, ( I can call her that because she wants us all to be "kissing friends" so that we can cultivate peace in the world),
is a treasure I have discovered late in life and am ever grateful that I did.
Photo from Astronomy Picture of the Day, (APOD) by Coles and Helm. ©2015.
The brightest moon went dark last night...
© Laine Quinn, Eclipse, January 20th, 2019. St. Augustine Florida
This is nothing like watching the Moon rising over the ocean in person,
but it's all I got!
It was truly breathtaking!
A perfect full moon, coming up over the horizon.
Nothing marks the daily passage of time so acutely as the phases of the moon.
Four clear beautiful nights (and sunny days) at the beach,
and she's practically at half mast when it is time to go home.
On cloudy days, we are clueless that time is marching on so relentlessly.
So, another year ends and another begins and on and on and on!
We live on a tiny planet that will one day be gone too,
so live it up and have a
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Full moon, December 22nd, 2018. Crescent Beach.
© Laine Quinn 2018
Every day the sun rises,
whether we see it or not,
the rotation of the earth allows for one sunrise and one sunset a day.
On the International Space Station the sun rises and sets about 15 times a day!
It's a shift in perspective,
a way different point of view!
St. Augustine Beach sunrise, last month, 2017.
The thing is that Venus has been so bright in the Western sky lately
that she takes my breath away.
It is difficult to take an interesting photograph of a little white dot of light,
so I borrowed this moon shot with Venus, taken in 2013.
But seeing it is the best!
Venus is at it's brightest now, while the moon is waning and visible in the late night or early morning sky.
Our Moon was closest to us last night...
could you feel it?
She climbed out of the clouds and was beautiful for the rest of the night.
The tides were crazy high
and the cats were just crazy!
Lots of folks out to see the "Super Moon."
Full Moon over the Harbor in St. Augustine, November 14th, 2016.
Yesterday was the first day of summer,
and here in St. Augustine it was a perfect summer day-
clear skies with occasional clouds,
temps in the mid 80's,
and a soft breeze.
Later the Full Moon rose large and bright over the river or ocean or road,
depending on where you were.
A perfect day.
Appreciated, enjoyed and needed...
Guana Talamato Matanzas Research Reserve.
A Walk in the Woods.
And the smiling moon!
(Last night)
Thanks to Deborah Byrd's Earth and Sky, I could identify the red star, Aldebaran.
A new job,
a whole new constellation
of stars and stories.
When you first meet someone,
what do they know of you?
Bit by bit our stories get told.
Our very own myths,
with twists and turns,
and
tragedies and triumphs,
loss and redemption.
A life,
like any other,
and
unlike any
other.
Bridge of Lions constellation,
29.8947° N, 81.3144° W,
St. Augustine, Florida.
The longest night
moves into the day
that is the start of longer days
and shorter
nights.
Imperceptible,
yet,
very welcome.
The moon resting near Venus and Mars, early Saturday morning.
(Mars really is red!)
When you look higher,
there is Jupiter!
The sun is about to rise and outshine these pals as they make their way across the sky.
A beautiful sight.
The moon and Venus close by with Mars and Jupiter, looking East on the morning of November 7th, 2015.
Venus and Mars are alright tonight... from a Paul McCartney song.
Green on the right going out to sea.
Moon in the sky.
Restless ocean claiming the land.
Godspeed to all travelers returning home.
Vilano Beach, St. Augustine, nearly full moon.
What is it about the moon that speaks to us?
Perhaps it is that our ancestors from long long ago admired and loved that rocky orb,
and it is deep in our cells to respond somehow to its beauty.
Last month's super moon,
the night before the eclipse.
The eclipse!
Earth's shadow moves across her moon.
Sun, Earth and Moon in perfect alignment.
On vacation and settled into a little cottage on a clear night, on Cape Cod, without my tripod!
(These shots are a testament to the genius of the engineers who developed digital cameras.
I was able to change the "ISO" (film speed) to a whopping 1600. The only wobbly shots are the ones in total shadow.)
© Laine Quinn
Dressed in Hibiscus leaves,
this not naked Lady
was shining in the shade
like a star
in the night sky.
As beautiful as the night.
"Which night?"
You might ask.
The night of shooting stars or lightening bugs,
or the first time you held the hand of someone you really loved.
One of those beautiful nights that you can't forget.
Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania, Water Garden with tropical water lilies.
From Laine's Blog, August 2013, edited and used with permission!
Catch Laine at the Wednesday Farmers and Craft market and this Saturday at the Nocatee Farmers' Market!