Laine's Blog, Thinking Out Loud

Part of A Song...

 

About America

By David Byrne

 

And I miss America

but boy can she be cruel.

I know how tall she is

without her platform shoes.

 

Nuff said..

 

 

 

 

 

Top o'the Mornin'...

 

 

 

Requited Love

 

"Are they coming?"

"Yes, I see them now."

"You look good."

"You're a sight for sore eyes too!"

"It's funny, you and me. I never imagined that I'd fall in love with...well, you!"

"Yeah, it is funny. You're not changing your mind are you?"

"No, even if I could, I couldn't change my heart. I've never felt this good before,

and I wouldn't go back for anything, you know that."

"Me too. You are the bees knees and I just love being with you.

Look at this beautiful day!"

"Isn't it glorious?"

"Better than I ever imagined it would be."

 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

 

 

A blast from the past! From 2/15/2012.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

Happy New Year, and Welcome 2018!

 

 

(And so long 2017, and Good Bye!)

(Good Riddance!)

 

Leaving a difficult year and venturing into the unknown new one.

Learning to balance the bad news and sorrows  with the joy and love that is all around.

 

Thanks to all for the Joy and Love that is all around!

 

 

 

 

Sunrise, Crescent Beach, December 26, 2017.

 

 

Happy Holidays!

 

 

Happy Holidays everyone!!!

Stay Safe and Strong!

 

 

A Simple Solution...

 

Respect

 

That's the word that seems to be missing from the conversation

about harassment and abuse.

 

Respect.

 

That powerful men abuse their power is nothing new.

    That we objectify beauty is as old as time

and isn't going away!

 

But throw in respect and that beauty is recognized as other,

as another person,

not mine.

 

It creates a healthy boundary, something that eluded my generation,

as we were taught to be nice to people

no matter how they treated us.

(Smile!)

 

Teach children to respect themselves and others,

and there will be a systemic change,

a change that has already begun.

 

It's all good.

 

Now that we are sticking together.

 

 

 

Cummer Gardens Statue, Jacksonville, Florida.

 

And the answer is...

 

The stage lights at the Gipsy Kings' concert on Thursday night!

St. Augustine Amphitheater.

 

A good time was had by all!

 

 

 

Are You Safe?

 

There are some who say that we are safer now

than at any other time in Human History.

And there are some who say that we are never ever safe.

 

There are some who work tirelessly for peace.

And there are some who work tirelessly for war.

 

There are those who worship power and money over and above

human relationships.

And there are some who would lay down their lives

for a stranger.

 

How will the earth's people move away from tribal ways?

The us and them ways?

The winner and loser ways?

 

The "new" barbarians,

the ones in expensive suits and gowns who go around in limousines and oversized yachts,

control the information.

But the truth that is hiding beneath the headlines is this:

 

LOVE IS MORE PERVASIVE ON THE PLANET THAN FEAR AND HATE AND GREED!

LOVE.

 

Love will survive the onslaught of the new barbarians

who would rape and pillage everything in sight.

Love is winning.

The lovers outnumber the haters on a grand scale!

 

In time we will regain balance,

and it will be women and men together leading the charge.

 

Are you safe?

 

 

I saw this on the beach the other day.

I once thought that they were deadly,

but the reality is they only have a terrible sting.

 

Kind of like the trouble the earth is in today,

terribly stunned,

but willing and able to survive!

 

 

 

 

 

The Portuguese Man of War. St. Augustine Beach.

 

 

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.

 

Aviles Street

 

 

This is the old Aviles Street.

Come to First Friday tonight to see the new Aviles street,

with sidewalk cafes and lots of new galleries.

 

Including Butterfield Garage on Aviles!

Laine's photos will be on display through the month of February,

alongside the other wonderful artists from Butterfield Garage.

 

 

 

 

 

Butterfield Garage on King Street is set to open in April of this year!

 

 

 

When Pigs Fly

 

 

 

Bless us all

on this

unusual

inauguration day.

 

And Bless America.

 

 

 

 

 

A New Year

 

Anything can happen!

And hopefully we will all be here at the end of it!

 

Throw caution to the wind?

Why not?

It might just be the thing to do.

 

Happy New Year Everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset, Porpoise Point, St. Augustine, 2016.

 

 

Almost Here

 

 

Soon here...

Soon over...

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas Eve, Eve!

Reprinted from Laine's Blog, December 2015.

 

 

Winter Solstice

 

 

 

The longest night,

the shortest day,

the light returns,

slowly,

but it returns!

 

Celebrate the dark,

Celebrate the light!

 

Happy Winter Solstice!

 

 

 

 

 

Get There Safely

 

 

This is the time of year to be gentle with everyone you meet.

The guy who just cut you off in traffic might have gotten some really bad news,

and be so distracted that he forgot his manners.

Or the young woman on her cell phone who doesn't seem to realize that she is

driving a car on a busy highway, might be talking with her mother who is in the hospital

five states away.

 

Whatever the reason, people are driving badly these days.

It seems to happen around the holidays.

 

So, be cautious, be patient, breathe, and get there safely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the archives, Laine's Blog, December 2011.

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Grateful for the usual suspects...

dear friends, family, cats, dogs,

blue skies and the moon and stars,

but especially for my time spent in nature.

Time that pulls me out of my head

and back to this beautiful complex world.

I am grateful for that.

 

 

Lights reflecting on the bay by the Bridge of Lions

remind me of sitting on the end of a pier, a long time ago,

and hearing the water lapping gently on the shore,

while being hypnotized by the rippling reflections of the lights from across the way.

 

One of my very favorite things!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

Super Moon...

 

 

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.

 

Life Goes On...

 

 

Ducks still swim in ponds and the sky still reflects beautifully on the water.

The sun rises and sets and the moon too.

 

And so we must also,

rise and set with the rhythms of life.

 

 

 

 

 

Ducks at Treaty Park where a historic treaty was signed with the Natives and subsequently broken.

St. Augustine, Florida.

 

 

Yes, It's the Car Wash!

 

Needing to get the undercarriage washed after the Hurricane,

and the "Do it yourself" car wash didn't do the trick,

I succumbed to the Show Boat Car Wash,

and was glad that I did.

It was nearly psychedelic,

and it took me too long to get the phone out to shoot

(although I like these shots!)

so, I must go back soon and capture the colors!

 

Here is the obvious shot...

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Show Boat Car Wash, after the storm...

 

 

 

Secret Agents, Tiggers, and Super Heroes!!

 

So wonderful to see St. George Street full of activity...

 

 

and a dragon, and and and...

 

Happy Halloween!

 

 

Someone Asked...

 

How are we doing in St. Augustine?

 

We are strong, but fatigued.

Grateful - "It could have been much worse", yet heartbroken,

if not for ourselves,

then for the other.

 

There are still piles and piles of debris in most neighborhoods.

Debris that is mostly tree limbs and branches and spanish moss,

and some consist of peoples beds, sofas, cabinets, rugs..

There are homes that are no longer standing,

and motels and thrift stores that have all of their contents outside.

Some shops downtown lost everything.

 

There are stories, lots of stories.

Young people who stayed in St. Augustine after finishing school, always intending to leave,

who lost everything in their rented apartments in the flood zone, and are now leaving to continue their dreams.

People without jobs or homes who live here and want to stay.

 

We are still in a daze,

but working hard to get it back together

and feel "normal" again.

 

We are strong, grateful, moving forward...

 

 

 

 

 

I don't have the heart to take photos of the devastation, so will be posting beautiful photographs next week to inspire and comfort.

The Thing About Being Four...

 

Boundless Energy!

 

 

The urge to make art, anytime, anywhere...

 

 

And making easy friends with driftwood creatures...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, nearly a week after the Hurricane, with Aden, October, 2016.

The Beach...

 

There is a ton of debris and the St. Augustine Beach Pier

is still closed,

but we are survivors,

we, who love the beach...

 

The Atlantic's back porch...

Yoga? Anyone?

 

It's still dangerous to swim, but people were swimming

and surfing and kite surfing.

 

Bless us all.

 

Back Tire in the Pacific...

 

Front Tire in the Atlantic...

 

 

Me thinks that I may have stumbled upon the very festive,

celebratory final leg of a coast to coast

bicycle run.

 

Happy guys putting their bikes in the salty Atlantic!!!

 

And a bottle of Champagne!

 

WOW!

 

 

 

 

St, Augustine Beach, yesterday!

Good Use Of A Drone...

 

 

I want one!!!

 

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach.

The 4th of July

 

 

America.

Aggressor or Peacemaker?

 

It will only take 5% of the population to tip the balance

and declare yet another Independence!

 

Our founding Visionaries had a dream...

is that dream a sleeping giant

in our hearts?

 

Is it a matter of evolution catching up with that ideal?

A matter of time?

 

 

Happy 4th of July!!!

Independence Day!

 

 

LOVE...

 

Tragedy.

Shock.

Grief.

Love.

 

 

An outpouring of love

for the

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender

and Straight

community.

 

 

 

In the wake of the horrific shooting at an Orlando Night Club.

Sending love to family and friends and first responders and second and third...

 

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 Call Of The Sea...

 

 

Pat and Laine's Art Show at

Butterfield Garage Art Gallery

has been extended one week,

through May 3rd.

 

(So all of the procrastinators in the building still have a chance to see it!)

 

Butterfield Garage is located on King Street in St. Augustine,

137 King Street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Front window display, Butterfield Garage Art Gallery.

Thanks!

 

St. George Street Caucus...

 

 

No no no.

Yes yes yes.

No no no.

Yes yes yes...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Politics, 2016 in the eye of the fish, or fish eye! 

Grover's Gallery's Independent Critters.