Curiouser and curiouser!
Mural of Cat in Baltimore, Remington neighborhood. Sensa the cat on the rail and watching the fish!
©LaineQuinn2022
The maple tree leaves,
my favorite autumn colors.
What are yours?
Do you have a favorite mum?
How about those white pumpkins?
Maybe we'll have purple pumpkins next year!
Are you carving or baking them,
or just enjoying their company?
And always the perennial worry,
what to do with the pumpkins once they strart to decay.
And they will decay!
Shadows projected on a screen create a monochromatic garden.
Is it an illusion
or
a delusion?
Yes.
Of course I have a story...
but,
not now,
another time.
Come back another time.
You'll see.
Yes,
I have a story.
The Reluctant Lady is tucked away in one of the magnificent hedges at LaDew Gardens, in Jarrettsville Maryland.
Another season comes and goes,
another year.
The moments add up -
beautiful moments, sad moments,
anxious moments,
and some golden moments.
You can't grasp them -
they're not for that,
but you can notice
with a breath,
a moment in time.
Breathe in...
Maple leaves with painterly effect in Autumn in Baltimore, Maryland.
Ok, so this is going to take longer than I thought, after all, that's a lot of posts...500!!
So, this is just the begining and it might go on for the next week or so...we will see.
ENJOY!!!
Thanks to all of my subscribers and fans!
Meet me Friday, Barley's, 6 P.M. - for a toast!
St. Augustine!
Didn't know that geese did this.
Ducks? Yes!
Always good for a smile!
Canada Geese at Lock Raven Reservoir, Baltimore, Maryland.
Summertime!
Often when I see the moon high in the sky,
I am reminded of a balmy night in Baltimore City,
when I was 19 or 20,
and feeling very pleased with myself,
sitting on the stoop of my very first apartment building.
The moon was shining above the tall buildings and trees surrounding me,
keeping me company like an old friend.
How many moons since then,
and still my good friend?
Photo of last year's Super Moon climbing throught the sea oats at St. Augustine Beach, Florida.
Hydrangea,
an interesting name
for a beautiful old-fashioned flower.
Proof, perhaps,
that a rose by any other name...
A special day comes and goes.
Friends and family pitch in and show up and laugh and dance.
Did they chase away the rain too?
Maybe.
It's possible.
Love can do that!
The day before the wedding, "Team B" arranges the flowers.
My favorite fountain in Mt. Vernon Place,
probably my favorte fountain in the world!
The cat tails and the turtle and the playful child,
all speak to a simple joy.
Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore, Maryland.
(To paraphrase e.e. cummings...)
not all matterings of mind
equal
one
iris
The line as I remember it is:
not all matterings of mind equal one violet
And aren't we lucky to see such things?
That moment when the wheels lift off the tarmac and you are airbourne, just inches from the ground,
you shake your head at the thought of this huge metal can flying
and off you go, into the clouds on a rainy day in Baltimore.
It's not raining above the clouds,
the sun is shining, and the sky above is blue.
And isn't that the perfect metaphor for all of our rainy days,
if we can just get above the clouds?
We have lift off at BWI Airport, full steam ahead!
When's the last time you were invited to a picnic?
I always say,
"Two lips are better than one."
(Or maybe I said that once?)
The Flower Mart again, in Baltimore's Mt. Vernon Place.
How lucky to go home to Baltimore and stumble upon the Flower Mart
in Mt. Vernon Place,
and to spend the afternoon with one of my very favorite people on the planet.
I must be living right.
The Church in Mt. Vernon Place and the people of Baltimore enjoying the Flower Mart, 2013!
Vulnerable we are, like an infant.
We need each other's care
or we will
suffer.
Poem by St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380).
From the Penguin publication, Love Poems From God, Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West.
Copyright © 2002 Daniel Ladinsky and used with his permission and my gratitude.
Photo of Laine and her twin sister, Libby.
As I have always said,
you have to break a few eggs in order to make an omelette.
Like life,
one thing leads to another.
This is one of the guardians outside the Paper Moon Diner in Baltimore.
She watches over a fun staff and good food and
an eccentric collection of "stuff,"
as you can see by the hundred or so Pez dispensers in the window behind her.
It's amazing what a little imagination can do for an old diner!
(The old diner being the restaurant, not the person writing this!)
It's great fun enjoying a meal there!
Natty Bo pops the question to the Utz girl!
Congratulations Baltimore Ravens! Woooo Hoooooo!
Is that crab smiling?
(GO RAVENS!)
Crab and shack in the Florida Keys.
Once upon a time there was a lovely aster.
This aster was enjoying the last light of an autumn evening in Baltimore,
when suddenly it was surrounded by butterflies.
They were the most unusual butterflies that this aster had ever seen,
and quite frankly they took her breath away!
The End
It is fascinating how many wild critters live side by side with humans.
Sometimes to their peril and other times, their salvation.
Yesterday a happy ending story came my way from Baltimore.
A baby raccoon was rescued from a down spout, 4 feet below the ground.
After being trapped for nearly 24 hours in the elbow of a cast iron pipe,
and over 7 hours of rescue attempts and everyone about to give up,
the little thing finally grabbed the hook on the end of the pole
that was being presented to him, for perhaps the last time,
and was hoisted to safety.
We are intrinsically connected to everything on the planet.
There are those of us who will stop whatever we are doing to do right by distressed creatures,
even if it takes all day.
And there are those others whose very lives embody that connection on a daily basis.
Hats off to all those who take the time to nurture life's pals,
you exemplify the best in us.
Lots of people helped the little raccoon - Ann first heard the cry for help and discovered where he was, then Jerry and Susan and Darryl got involved and called in others, like John from Critter Control who is holding "Rocky" and who delivered him into the hands of the Phoenix Center for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife and Kathy Woods, who will nurture him back to robust health and then introduce him back into the wild. The photo is Ann's. Thanks to all!
Looking after a little guy who is 13 weeks old
and listening to him gurgle and sigh and coo and poop and fart
and watching him eat like there's no tomorrow,
and stretch and grab
and seeing the smile that melts hearts,
there is the feeling that we really don't change all that much.
Oh, he can't wink yet, but we are working on that ;>)
And air guitar comes a little later too!
So, coo coo ka choo!
Photo of LainieBaby by Patrice Goham, at the Hon Fest in Baltimore.
If you don't speak Balmerese, try not to over think it...
Balmerese is the native language of the people who settled in Baltimore, Maryland. Hon Fest coming up in June!
She barks.
Sleep escapes.
In a city I once loved
I find you asleep
Deep in the heart of me.
The city is Baltimore, and is still loved and the poem is from the last century, by Laine.
The Last Supper.
12 Disciples.
One might be full of fear.
One might be unfaithful.
One might be a woman.
History or myth?
Truth or fiction?
What really matters?
To you?
Take away the rituals and the robes and aren't all the teachings the same?
Love. Compassion. Kindness.
We can change our world with love, compassion and kindness,
a little at a time,
each day.
Church window - St. John's Church, Mt. Washington in Baltimore.
Flamingos Glide Into Times Square in New York City!
They seem to have regained their color.
It appears that the hot chocolate the was so kindly shared with them in Baltimore has revived them.
It's Christmas Eve, how are you doing?
Are you getting your color back and warming up to the holiday?
That is my wish for you today,
no matter how busy or unfinished the day is,
may it be warm and filled with kindness.