Laine's Blog, Thinking Out Loud

Not Like That...

 

I wanted to write about the unsettling times we find ourselves in

and then there was that date,

September 11, 2021

staring me in the eye.

 

In 2001, almost a week after that horrible day,

I was on a sailboat in Provincetown Harbor

and witnessed the most magnificent sunset

caused by the dust in the air all the way from 

New York City to Cape Cod,

from that terrible tragedy at the World Trade Center Towers.

 

I lived in Provincetown at the time and my friend invited me out on the water.

Planes were still grounded and it was eerily quiet and peaceful, calm and beautiful.

 

We talked about how the U.S. behaved in the world

and how that created more enemies than friends.

 

The Country stood still for a while - 

collective grief - shock - compassion - empathy.

 

And you know the rest of the story.

They said,

"Get on with your lives." "Go shopping."

We'll start a war or two and make it right.

 

A primitive response lacking insight, intelligence, even compassion for the victims.

It's not what their families wanted.

 

It wasn't misguided -

it was exactly what some people wanted.

 

Will America ever be the Beacon of Democracy she promised to be?

 

Not like that.

Not like that.

 

 

 

 

 

©Laine Quinn 2021, photo September 17th, 2001.

 

 

Teach Us...

 

Teach us to care and not to care

Teach us to sit still.

                                               T.S. Eliot

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the poem "Ash Wednesday"

Photo ©Laine Quinn

Boat on a pond in Wellfleet.

Just Ask Any Whale...

 

It's a good idea to embrace

the other's otherness,

because

we are the other's other.

 

 

Just ask any whale!

 

 

 

 

 

We are all in this together!

Two Whales, ©2015, Laine Quinn, Cape cod

In Praise of the Ocean...

 

 

"The shore means many things to many people. Of its varied moods

the one usually considered typical is not so at all.

The true spirit does not reside in the gentle surf that laps

a sun drenched bathing beach on a summer day.

Instead, it is on a lonely shore at dawn or twilight,

or in storm or midnight darkness that we sense a mysterious something

that we recognize as the the reality of the sea.

 

 

For the ocean has nothing to do with humanity.

It is supremely unaware of man..."

 

And the ocean was there at the beginnings of life on earth,

spawning all that we know and recognize as our world,

over many many millions of years.

 

 

"Everything in that scene caused me to feel apart,

remembering that the relation of birds to the sea

is rooted in millions of years,

that man came but yesterday."

 

 

 

 

 

Rachel Carson, quoted from the book LOST WOODS The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson, edited by Linda Lear.

 

Photos Credit, © Laine Quinn White Crest, Wellfleet Mass.

and Dark Sky, Herring Cove, Provincetown Mass.

and Black Skimmers, Vilano Beach, St. Augustine Fl.

 

 

Beauty, Love

 

 

Beauty in the world is experienced by the individual as feeling.

 

If we look more closely at beauty and try to describe more carefully the beauty of the world,

we do not arrive at aesthetics, but rather love.

 

Is not beauty the particular way in which the world expresses itself as love?

 

...love, the interior presence of beauty.

 

 

 

 

From the book by Robert Sardello, Love and the Soul, Creating a Future for Earth.

 

Good News

 

Even though our art show is closed,

the good news is that

I have been accepted into the Butterfield Garage Art Gallery!

So...

You can see a smaller selection of my photographs anytime!

 

Pat Arenas is already a member and her work is always on display.

 

That being said, here are the promised photos of the show.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to all for your love and support,

friends and family,

far and near.

We love you!

 

 

 

 

 

The Essence...

 

Love, and Joy!

 

Like flowers bring!

(People can bring that too!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cape Cod Hydrangeas!

 

Related articles

In A Hurry?

The Little Dog Laughed...

 

To see such craft...

 

 

And the dish ran away with the spoon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which Provincetown Restaurant?

Childhood rhyme, 

 

Hey Diddle Diddle.

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon.

The little dog laughed to see such craft,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

 

 

In A Small Seaside Town...

 

 

It was the blue that saved my soul

when I lived in this small seaside town.

 

Perhaps there is someone there now

soaking up the shimmering light and colors,

healing from a loneliness she doesn't even know is hers.

 

 

 

 

 

Provincetown Blues.

 

It Was A Good Day!

 

 

 

 

 

A good day indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finback Whale and Humpbacks off Cape Cod on the Dolphin Fleet out of Provincetown. 

Thank You!

 

Thar She Blows!

 

 

On our way back to the dock,

leaving the Humpback whales to their stomping grounds,

and the humans to forage on land.

 

 

 

 

Whale watching on Cape Cod with the Dolphin Fleet.

This I miss the most!

More photos tomorrow!

 

Related articles

Rare footage shows five humpback whales breaching in near unison

The 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

 

Who Can Stop Us?

 

 

The clouds above us join and separate,

The breeze in the courtyard leaves and returns.

Life is like that, so why not relax?

Who can stop us from celebrating?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The poet Lu Yu quoted in The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff. 

Photo of celebrating flowers taken in a small New England town while waiting for lunch!

 

Related articles

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

Arm Chair Winter...

 

 

You've heard of armchair gardeners?

I am an armchair winter person.

I love snow!

 

 

 

 

Photograph shot from the old Dusty Miller Inn, looking down Bradford Street, in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

 Reprinted from Laine's Blog, January, 2012, photo from the last century!

Related articles

Red Fox: Cape Cod in Winter

Let the Light Find You...

 

 

What to do with the unlovable parts of ourselves?

Try as we might, we can't run away or separate ourselves from our shadows.

 

What happens if we sit and stay, like a good dog that wants to jumpandrunaround so badly,

but we sit and we stay, and we don't look away?

 

The poets say that's when the light gets in.

And it's true.

If we can love ourselves in our worst moments, then we are that much closer to just about everyone on the planet.

Our compassion shines through the dark. 

We love more and judge less. 

 

 

If you're having one of those days, (weeks, months),

try to sit and to stay long enough for the light to find you,

and believe that you are equal to the best of us.

 

And don't forget to ask for help from your favorite

"other"-

whether it's the angels,

your higher self,

or your God.

 

It can't hurt!

We need you back here.

 

 

 

 

Reprinted from Laine's Blog, February 2012. Top photo is the shadow of the passion vine. Lower shot is Herring Cove Beach, Dark Sky. All used with permission and tweaked a little.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whale Blessings

 

 

In Spring and early Summer the Right whales feed just off the beaches in Provincetown.

You can spend an afternoon with them,

watching and listening to their unusual sounds,

receiving the blessings freely offered.

 

The ancient whales have observed human evolution for millenium,

and know things that we can only guess at.

Although we might be a bit of a dissapointment to them,

they seem always to bless us and raise our spirits,

teasing us to higher ground.

 

 

 

 

Photo of a Humpback Whale, out of Provincetown, doing what the humans call "tail slapping". The whales probably have another name for it! 

 

 

 

 

 

Water Sculptures, Sort of...

 

Water is the architect of much of our world.

Beaches are rearranged daily by oceans and tides.

 

 

Snow is rained upon, melts, and refreezes in amazingly similar ways.

 

 

 

 

And this wonderful creature spends all of her time in water

and the lines along her body are

a lot like the sandy beach above.

 

 

 

 

1. St. Augustine Beach

2. Baltimore backyard, with snow.

3. Humpback Whale, rolling in the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Winter Everywhere...

 

 

The rain was falling so gently in drifts across the sky

the other day

that it looked like snow.

 

A blast of winter is coming through tonight,

and tomorrow,

but will be gone by Thursday.

 

In all of the places I have lived there's snow now.

 

Here in St. Augustine,

beautiful white sandy beaches will have to do!

 

 

 

 

Beech Forest in Provincetown a few years back!

 

 

Something In The Stars...(continued)

 

(After a few choice expletives aimed at that  "something" that keeps pulling me into a hole.)

 

    I want to go to the root of my happiness & hang on to it -

    Really I won't need to cling to it, will I?

    Non attatchment - non judgement - 

    What is the root of my happiness?

    Joy

    The Joy of being on this beautiful planet & being human.

    being alive in this miraculous body.

 

    Being human. Not perfect or a god. but human.

    No longer at war with myself or my humanness. accepting, tolerant celebrating.

 

I came here to make friends

with myself

and we're having a fight.

Not speaking really.

one of us wants to be happy

the other melancholy.

So I am beside myself.

...

I am trying to make light of it.

Go out & have a fist fight with the air...

growl and scowl but let it pass.

 

Something in the stars - the waning moon - the front coming through-

What?

 

(Later after a walk...)

 

I left here hungry

without breakfast or love

I walked by the water

on a blue sky day

and came home full of love

 

still no breakfast

no bath

no chores done

but myself has come home

again for - we don't know how long

& welcome back you lovely

beautiful soul

welcome back.

 

 

 

 

 

C-Scape dune shack and Pilgrim Monument in the distance. Provincetown, Massachesetts.

 

 

Something In The Stars...

 

 

 

December 7 2001 Am

     Shack

Last Day

A mouse goes to sleep

in the morning, would you say

good night (sleep tight) or g'day!?

 

The demons came, softly quietly as though they were so comfy & friendly with me and I had a sit down talk with myself like a loving partner might - everytime you get happy you get ahead you get to feeling really good - someone in here makes fun of you - belittles you diminishes your joy & even your pain - Why do you let that happen? Try to keep an eye on the BIG Picture. Leave yourself alone - Be silly Be joyful be a pain - don't apologize or compare - keep an eye on The BIG Picture - It's not just you here - there's lots to do & see - You have as much right as anyone to be here & and to be you here -

    Something keeps pulling you down into the hole -

 

 

 

More tomorrow...

 

 

Photo: Winter Retreat, taken on a very cold day visiting the shack.

 

 

   

 

Cloud Signs

 

December 3, 2001

C-Scape Dune Shack, evening.

 

Walking back toward the shack today after hiking & scketching & napping - I was planning on some lunch -

However there was a group of clouds over the shack in an otherwise cloudless sky. These clouds looked like stylized - Beautifully stylized dolphins in the wild in and out of the water - Just Beautiful & the whole configuration was sort of in the shape of a diamond. So me thinks to meself - maybe there are dolphins in the ocean just over the dune here. So I go inside and put my things away & get my binoculars.

I go down to the beach & think - well the clouds are really over Race Pt and I'm not walking to race Pt. 

So I'm watching the ducks and the Loons and Lo and behold I see splashing in the distance - lots of splashing then I see spouts & dorsal fins & then tails and a few breaches! perhaps some dolphins but most definitely whales!

How wonderful & so cosmic to have that cloud enlighten me to visitors in the neighborhood!

I looked over my shoulder to acknowledge the cloud & it had disappeared!

Disappeared!

 

 

 

 

 

 Photo taken several years prior to the above entry from a whale watch boat.

 Grammer and spelling are true to the original entry!

 

 

 

Dune Shack Stories

 

 

Twelve years ago I won a week's stay in a Dune Shack

in Provincetown on Cape Cod.

Already initiated in shack dwelling by a generous friend

who taught me about wood fires and well water and kerosene lamps,

there was no fear,

only anticipation.

  

Craving the isolation and solitude,

on my first day I bristled when I saw two women approach the shack.

They politely knocked on the door and apologized for the intrusion.

 

"...but would you mind terribly if I showed my friend the shack,

my stay here was so important to my life that I wanted to show her?

We won't be long I promise,

I understand your need for solitude."

 

They were so respectful of my time and space that when they departed

only minutes later, I almost wished that they would stay longer!

 

This week on LainesBlog,

I will revisit that week in December

with some excerpts from my journals

and a few photos as well!

I hope that you enjoy it!

 

The C-Scape Dune shack in Provincetown on Cape Cod.

The "intruder" was the writer, Joan Anderson whose book, A Year By The Sea, is an inspiring story about her late life changes in family and marriage and work.

 

 

New England Dream

 

 

Walking with my camera,

my first winter in Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod,

the day after a beautiful blizzard came to town,

capturing my new home all dressed up in snow white.

 

My New England winter dream come true!

 

 

 

Commercial Street, the Lobster Pot and the Old Colony Tap, Provincetown, 1996.

The Secret Language of Dancers

 

 

These two pelicans, flying and diving together in the shallow waters of Tampa Bay, 

in time to their own music,

 

 

reminded me of the two humpback whales dining together off Cape Cod,

and the pilot whales, dancing in perfect harmony.

 

 

Occasionally humans can, without a word, step together harmoniously to shared music.

It's great fun when it happens,

and like the dance instructor said,

 

"Don't worry if you misstep, it's part of the fun and just like life.

Make it part of the dance until you can find the rhythm again!"

 

 

(Sorry, no photos of the humans dancing, as they are very difficult to photograph in the wild!)

 

 

Here And Now...

 

 

It still snows up north,

even though it is 75 degrees here in St. Augustine.

It's less real than a dream,

and impossible to conjure up the actuality of snow!

 

In this photo it's snowing one of those magical snowfalls,

where the flakes quietly stick to the branches,

transforming the forest.

 

You might say that this shortcoming of ours, not being able to invoke snow,

is a plug for being in the moment,

because all that we are is here and now.

 

 

 

Gentle snowfall in Beech Forest, Cape Cod.

Runaway Buoy

 

 

When we realize that we are the ones writing our own stories,

it comes with a certain acceptance that some of the "well intentioned" institutions

of our childhoods (church, school, family) might have led us astray -

for a decade or two or three,

like this runaway buoy that, were it still functioning and emitting a beacon,

might misguide an unwitting sailor on some foggy night and guide her straight into the shore.

 

 

We certainly do run aground more that a few times in the course of a lifetime.

If we can get over the anger and bitterness and all of the other uncomfortable feelings that arise,

at least it can serve to make the story more interesting

and we can really become the Captains of our souls.

 

(And we might finally learn the difference between functional and dysfunctional!)

 

Now, that's a healthy aid to navigation!

 

 

Buoy #7 lost on land on Anastasia Island. Buoy #3 floating soundly in Cape Cod Bay.

Fishing In The Storm

 

 

When the fish are running in seaside towns,

the word spreads quickly.

 

Some years ago, a close encounter with Hurricane Floyd,

stirred up the surf and the fish and our restless spirits on Cape Cod.

 

Here's hoping that all of our friends in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania,

are safe and warm after their collision with Hurricane Sandy.

 

 

 

Herring Cove Beach, Provincetown, Massachusetts.

 

 

In Praise of Photography, or ...Me, I need a camera!

 

 

Saturday evening as I was driving along US 1,

there was a beautiful sunset over the marsh, next to the railroad tracks.

 

A storm was moving away that created a low ceiling or shelf

that by and by was gray and then golden and then a wonderful sunset glow

of oranges and reds and pinks.

 

On my way someplace to go somewhere else,

I didn't stop to get the shot.

 

This happened another time, in Provincetown, my last week there,

on our way to dinner after a craft show,

the sky was putting on a magnificent show.

What I remember most is that it just got better and more brilliant,

as though it would go on all night long.

Standing on the hill that overlooked Provincetown harbor,

all I could do was soak it in.

It felt like a gift after an exhausting day,

and there I was without my camera!

 

 

Some people can paint beautiful pictures with words,

others can paint beautiful pictures.

 

Me, I need a camera.

 

 

 

Moors Reflection

 

 

As above,

so below.

 

or,

you could say...

 

Heaven on Earth!

 

 

Moors Reflection, west end of Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Where The Cape Ends...

 

 

Where the Cape ends in a fantastic spiral,

there is Provincetown,

surrounded by water on three sides and shimmering with a luminosity

that bounces off the sky and the land and the water.

 

This unique juxtaposition of ocean, sand, bay, and light

is one of the reasons that Cape Cod is so beloved.

 

Some say there is no other place like it on the planet.

 

 

 

New Sunset, shot from the East end of town, looking toward Pilgrim Monument.

A Very Good Year

 

 

The year that this photo was shot was a very good year for whale watching.

"Very good," being defined as lots and lots of whales.

 

What's a very good year for you?

Lots and lots of...?

 

Fill in the blank.

 

Sometimes our most difficult years turn out to be our best.

 

It's nice when it works out that way.

 

 

 

Photograph entitled "Just a Fluke" was shot off Provincetown in a very good year.