Laine's Blog, Thinking Out Loud

What I miss...

 

If you ask me what I miss most

from my time on Cape Cod

it is this -

these amazing animals!

 

 

While working on the Whale Watch boats

I found myself eye to eye with a beautiful

Humpback Whale.

I was all alone on the back of the boat 

and there she was with her huge eye

looking right at me!

 

I'll never forget that!

 

 

 

Photos taken in 2015, my last whale watch so far!

©LaineQuinn2024

 

 

 

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.

 

Water And Sand And Light

 

 

This was my favorite beach to walk on Cape Cod.

If the weather was warm and the tide was out and I had a buddy with me,

I might swim there too.

 

When you follow the sandbars at Head of the Meadow Beach as far as they will take you,

it feels like you are going deep into the ocean,

and there is a primal excitement about it,

as though with one wrong turn, you could be lost at sea forever.

 

The clouds along the beach often mirror the shape of the Cape,

adding to the painterly beauty of light reflected on sand and water and water and sand and light.

 

 

 

 

Snowdrift Like The Sea

 

 

Just a little something to cool you off on these hot summer days.

Happy Hot Summer!

 

 

 

Race Point Beach, Provincetown, Cape Cod, Winter!

Red Sky

 

 

Red sky at night,

sailor's delight...

and whale watch Captains too!

 

 

 

The tidal flats in Provincetown with the Pilgrim Monument and sunset!

The Dragon

 

 

Standing on a ridge on an isolated stretch of beach on Cape Cod, my shadow is cast on the retreating waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

I call this photo The Dragon, following the mythic thinking that the only dragons that need slaying in our lives are our very own shadows.

 

Have I finished slaying my dragons?

Probably not.

 

But they are not as powerful as they once were

and

I am not as fearful.

 

 

 

Stolen Moment

 

 

Standing on a Cape Cod beach one day, I watched as a wave climbed a short ridge

to settle on the sand and then disappear.

It lasted only a moment and then another wave would come along and do the same thing.

 

Sitting in a noisy restaurant with some friends the other night,

drinking beer and playing trivia,

there was a moment when I looked at each of their faces

and realized how lucky I was to be there with these friends.

 

No one noticed that I had stepped out of time to do this.

It felt as though I had stolen the moment,

and then returned to the scene with a bigger heart.

 

 

Photo taken near Race Point Beach in Provincetown.

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, years),

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.

 

 

 

Armchair Winter Person

 

 

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.

Cultivate Your Sense of Humor

 

When I lived in Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod, and was ready to launch my little daysailer for the very first time,

(not pictured here)

I went to the Harbor Master thinking that I might have to pay a ramp fee.

I asked him if I needed anything to launch and he answered,

"Water."

We got along very well after that.

 

The moral of the story is to cultivate your sense of humor,

especially when dealing with persons in authority,

and never launch your boat without water.