Laine's Blog, Thinking Out Loud

Now We Are Three...

 

 

And we walk together on the beach like old friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shadows, yours and mine! St. Augustine Beach.

 

Love Letters...

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

Love letters on Flagler's Fishing Pier.

 

Remembering...

 

Remembering Clara...

 

What a great jumping off point for a poem or a short work of fiction.

 

 

It gets even more interesting when you see the rest of the line...

 

 

What great names,

and loved enough for family or friends to immortalize them on the Fishing pier at Flagler Beach,

or at least as long as the pier lasts!

 

What's the rest of their story?

 

 

 

Flagler Fishing Pier, Florida.

Do You Believe In Magic?

 

 

Three days, three Disney parks...

and oh so many princesses!

 

 

A whirlwind of fun, crowds and surprises,

the first time for this old gal,

with a new appreciation for the creativity

that is Disney.

 

 

 

 

The Magic Kingdom, Castle and a lovely Princess and her little Prince.

Vulnerable...

 

 

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.

Reprinted from Laine's Blog, May 2013.

 

 

 

 

Freedom...

 

While in Budapest on a rainy Saturday,

we ran into at least three wedding parties!

 

 

 

 

Rain or shine,

in Florida,

everyone is free to marry the spouse of their choice!

 

Who would've thunk?!

 

 

Kudoos to all who made that happen!

 

 

 

Budapest, Hungary, September 2014.

Freedom to Marry is released by the Court in Talahassee, Florida, January 6th, 2015.

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

  

What if you are here on this beautiful, physical, gravity based planet,

simply because you want to be here?

 You like a challenge!

 

 

 

In our smallest moments and our largest,

and everywhere in between,

this is it,

the stuff of our lives.

 

Are you having fun yet?

 

 

 

 

To be just a wet stone,

or to reflect the sky above?

 

 Changing your focus can conjure up magic,

 like this reflection in a very shallow pool of rainwater.

 

 

     

I'm fine really...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!

 

 

 

 

Some samplings of photos and sayings from 2014!

Bring on the New Year!

 

 

Best Ornaments!

 

 

 

And the beat goes on....

 

 

 

 

Thanks to the fabulous and creative, Karen and Grover!!

 

It's Confusing...

 

 

It's a balmy day here in St. Augustine,

and they tell me it's Christmas Eve!

 

A light rain created the scent of spring through the window

and yet...

there are lights everywhere and places to go and presents to wrap

and friends to cheer...

so it must be Christmas!

 

Have a Very Merry,

Everyone!

And try to be nice!

 

 

 

Baltimore backyard, almost a year ago! 

 

Related articles

Dreaming By The Fire

Let the Light Find You...

Making Friends...

 

 

Making friends at any age is a gift and a blessing.

 

 

 

Sharing your toys and time is a bonus.

 

The connection, the friendliness, the love,

is all.

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, a close encounter with a generous Oriole's fan at the beach on a beautiful warm December afternoon.

 

The Best Thing To Do...

 

 

A pink flamingo on top of a makeshift Christmas tree,

wearing a set of miniature pearls.

 

 

 

Christmas is such a mixed bag of tricks,

and then it's over!

 

Doing something fun with the people you love

seems to be the very best thing to do.

 

May you find yourself in good company, warm, and loved,

no matter how you choose to spend these days.

 

It's over before you know it and the days begin to grow longer and a new year begins.

 

 

 

 

 

Reprinted from Laine's Blog, December 2012, the year the earth stood still, or not.

 

 

 

Baking For The Holidays?

 

 

What are you baking for the Holidays?

 

 

 

 

At the pool in Cocoa Beach, after a week of rain in St. Augustine! (Summer,2008)

My perennial favorite, from December 2011, Laine's Blog.

 

 

No Loitering...

 

...under the pier.

 

 

Some of us can't even fit under the pier,

but others

lead us there...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aden under the St. Augustine Beach Pier that more than once upon a time had water under it and will probably soon again, if the ocean has her way.

Dreaming By The Fire

 

 

Who doesn't like staring into a warm fire on a cold night?

 

Drawn into the magic of dancing light and heat and the crackling sounds,

it is difficult to concentrate on the conversations around you,

and the one in your head is more like a dream -

 a dream that humans have been having for thousands of years -

restfulness, safety, peace, warmth.

 

Winter dreams...

Human dreams...

 

 

 

 

From Laine's Blog, December 6, 2013 and used with her permission!

 

Coming Home...

 

 

 

A lot of people will be traveling over the coming weeks,

 

going home.

 

 

Where is home? 

 

Is it where you spent your childhood?

 

Or where you choose to live?

 

Is home a moveable feast?

 

Do we carry it within us?

 

 

Is it a place we cherish or a person we love?

 

Is it all of these things?

 

A place, a person, where you've been and where you're going

 

and where you are right now?

 

 

The heart and soul of home

 

seem to be everywhere!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Borrowed from Laine's Blog, November, 2012 with a different photo! BWI Airport in Baltimore.

 

The Meeting...

 

 

I told you never to come here...

 

or

 

What's the password?

 

The password kiddo is,

this is my house so let me out!

 

 

or

 

Now, you promised,

you won't tell anyone, EVER.

 

I promise.

 

 

 

The Little House on the Terrace, Tihany Hungary.

 

 

 

Related articles

The Best Day...

A Child's View of Things...

 

 

To an adult,

a cemetary is a serious thing,

 

 

but to a child,

 

 

it's another place that needs exploring.

 

No prior knowledge,

no expectations,

no prejudices,

a great way to live

each day.

 

 

 

 

Cemetary in Budapest, Hungary.

Kid = Aden.

 

The Day Before...

 

 

This is the day before he understood that you can eat the cone

and

get to the rest of the ice cream!

 

 

 

 

Aden useing a spoon in Godollo, Hungary to scoop out the rest of the ice cream!

 

 

 

Swan Song...

 

 

Traveling with this little guy and his mom and grandparents,

at that age where he is absorbing language like a sponge,

and learning two languages at one time,

it was little surprise when he could recognize the Hungarian word for "ice cream"

and take you by the hand to the very attractive stands displaying the beautiful choices,

in all the towns we visited.

 

"Fagylalt"

 

 

 

Aden and swans at Lake Balaton, Hungary.

 

Do You need An Umbrella?

 

 

Hungary is dotted with many charming towns,

like this one, Szent Endres,

situated on the banks of the Danube River.

Once you hear the English translation, Saint Andrews,

it is easier to remember the name.

 Forgetting the cobblestone streets and squares and shops and galleries,

is not an option!

 

(And there are my travelling companions and friends,

just up ahead, as I stop to take yet another photo.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are You Coming?

 

When the going gets tough,

the tough get going,

and going,

and going!

 

 

(Hey, wait for me!)

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, and keeping up with Aden...

 

 

 

Stories at the Beach...

 

 

One evening.

One beach walk in the rain.

Three or four or five stories being played...

 

 

 

"Let's Get Away"

 

A couple, no longer young, and not yet old, married only a few years, but finding themselves entrenched in very hectic busy lives together with their eager dog, Fletcher.

She suggests they dash it all and get away for a few days. He reluctantly agrees, only if they can bring Fletcher and they find themselves on the beach in St. Augustine, only hours from their

home in Gerogia. And although it is raining, they find that the joy of watching Fletcher running and chasing the frisbe in and out of the waves is changing their world, cracking their weary

faces into shameless smiles.

 

 

 

"The Wedding"

 

She: Do you remember when we decided to get married, we both agreed that we would run into the ocean in our fancy wedding clothes to celebrate in style? Why didn't we do that?

He: We were a few miles inland, if you recall, and surrounded by out of town guests and we couldn't get away.

She: Let's do it now!

He: Now? It's about to rain!

She: So, let's. It will seal our promise to each other, who cares if we get wet.

He: You really want to, now?

She: Yes! Why not?

 

 

 

 

 

"Nobody Gets Me, But You"

 

 

She: Dad, where are you going?

He: Out to the beach.

She: Again? It's supposed to rain.

He: You worry too much, Baby, God's rain don't hurt me.

She: At least wear your hat.

He: Yes, Baby.

 

The old man drives his old car to the beach and drags his old chair and his satchel that holds the holy book and sits close to the water, taking off his shoes and feeling the warm sand between his toes. He reads the words that are like music to him and writes the notes that help him to remember how they make him feel.

He thinks to himself, I wish Baby could hear what I hear and see what I see when I read these songs. It's like sitting on the edge of the world, looking out into the infinite. What's a little rain to an old man in ecstasy, just more joy! Nobody gets me, except, of course, you, my Lord and Saviour.

 

 

 

 

 

It was a very interesting trip down the beach that night.

There were the two young girls taking pictures of each other with a phone, doing hand stands.

I offered to take their photo together and they accepted and immediately posed,

with their backs to me, facing the ocean,

their hands and arms entwined in a kind of pretzel over their heads and thanked me!

I said, how about one looking at the camera together?

Oh, ok!

 

And at the end of my walk, a young man and woman,

kids really,

playing soccer, one on one,

and she was winning!!

 

 

Lots of fun in the rain on the beach.

 

(These stories are of course fabrications, fantasies, more fun!)

(The photos are real!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach. 

 

 

Keeping Cool

 

 

Snowing at night and sticking to everything,

the branches of the trees, the trunks,

the street lights.

One of the most beautiful nights of my life,

keeping me cool tonight!

 

 

 

The Valentine's snow storm, Baltimore, 2014. What you can't see are the marvelous hardwood trees in the background, all covered in snow.

 

 

How Many Blessings?

 

A Haiku

 

He's two years old now

and still falls asleep with me

in the red hammock.

 

 

 

How many blessings in this photo?

 

 

 

Aden, red hammock, sunshine, deck, summertime...

 

 

 

 

Related articles

Giving Thanks

A Year Like That...

 

 

A year ago,

a wedding.

Lots of flowers and friends and fun.

 

So much has happened

since those flowers.

So much in one year.

 

Did you have a year like that?

 

 

 

 

(Happy Anniversary!)

 

Walk a Mile in My Shoes...

 

A mile or even a half mile in shoes that don't, won't, can't possibly fit you,

would cause a lot of pain.

 

It's a nice thought, to put yourself in someone else's shoes,

but it is an impossible task that requires many assumptions.

 

Better to honor another person's path,

knowing that you don't have a clue about what they are

really thinking or feeling.

 

 

That's not to say we can't understand each other

when we truly listen and communicate,

we can and do.

 

It's more about honoring the mystery of the other,

the way that we honor

the mystery of life.

 

 

 

Aden's shoes, my feet. My shoes, Aden's mysterious self.

 

Pretty Eyes...

 

 

Pirate smile...

 

Welcome,

my new furry friend!

 

 

 

 

Elton John song, which one? And Puma the black pirate!

 

Heady

 

 

You might think that having dinner under a canopy of Jasmine,

might be a bit heady.

 

 

But it didn't bother these diners,

or the birthday party upstairs.

 

The combination of good company,

Jasmine and wine,

make for a sweet, heady evening!

 

 

 

Jasmine at O. C. Whites, in St. Augustine, Florida, birthday party too!

 

 

 

Happy Adults?

 

 

Although the expected order of things

is that the adults in the world guide and teach the children

how to become happy and healthy adults,

there is a school of thought that claims

that the children are here to teach us

how to be happy and healthy adults.

 

Looking at this another way,

perhaps the children are here to correct our misguided adultness.

 

It couldn't hurt!

 

 

 

Young boy engrossed in building at the beach, watercolor effect! St. Augustine Beach.

 

Not Yet!

 

 

When is it a good time to tell an almost 2 year old

that it is bad luck to open an umbrella in the house?

 

 

Not yet!