Laine's Blog, Thinking Out Loud

Let The Autumn Light Reach You

 

What nourishes you

in the middle of a Pandemic?

 

What nourishes you

when political forces take a dark turn

and plunge us into a past that should be long forgotten?

 

 

For me it is Poetry -

Poetry and Music that soothe my soul

and the beauty all around me -

flowers still blooming in our Florida gardens and

the angle of the sun in the trees at a certain time of day,

and of course the beach!

And happy dogs and peaceful cats!

And friends, young and old!

 

Let the autumn light reach you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

©2021 Laine Quinn, photo of Spanish Moss in Live Oaks at Washington Oaks State Park.

 

 

 

Deep Breath...

 

 

Let's be patient with one another.

We are all in this for the long haul

and depend on each other to remain safe and healthy.

Love and kindness are our best tools to see this through.

Love and kindness and patience.

 

Deep breath.

 

 

 

Sunrise, Saint Augustine Beach, Yesterday!

©2020 Laine Quinn

March Winds...

 

 

March winds,

and look at the trees.

What are they whispering to each other

and now they are laughing!

 

How many years have they stood

side by side

chattering in the wind

and silent in the calm air?

 

How many years?

How many stories in all that time?

 

Old souls,

Good neighbors.

 

 

 

 

Spanish Moss dancing in the wind on Hontoon Island, ©2007.

 

Fallen Trees...

 

 

How many years did this tree stand taller and taller

before a mighty wind took her down?

My 4 year old friend is dwarfed in the cave of her roots,

with his bag of treasures -berries, leaves and feathers.

 

 

 

 

Aden and Oak, Guana Tolomato Matanzas Estuarine Research Reserve trail. That's a mouthful! Wonderful park with a full size Right Whale in the nature center.

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.

 

 

Summer Solstice

 

 

Yesterday was the first day of summer,

and here in St. Augustine it was a perfect summer day-

clear skies with occasional clouds,

temps in the mid 80's,

and a soft breeze.

 

Later the Full Moon rose large and bright  over the river or ocean or road,

depending on where you were.

 

A perfect day.

 

Appreciated, enjoyed and needed...

 

 

 

Guana Talamato Matanzas Research Reserve.

A Walk in the Woods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Words...

 

 

 

 

 

A Room With A View

 

 

Over the marsh, and the river...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fort Mose Neighbors, St. Augustine, Florida.

Circles...

 

 

...around the moon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, December moon 2015, Anastasia State Park, sea oats.

 

Blue Evening

 

 

Another day comes to an end,

or rather

daylight ends!

 

The night is young!

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach Pier from Anastasia State Park, yesterday!

 

The Interior Life of a Tree...

 

 

 

Getting a closer look at a large piece of driftwood on the beach,

reveals some of its secrets.

 

 

Can you see the river and the mountains?

 

And a Ram?

 

 

The interior life of a tree...

 

 

 

 

 

Anastasia Island State Park, St. Augustine, Florida.

 

 

Another Wedding...

 

 

After a day of storms,

the beach beckons

and there's a wedding against the backdrop of the green water

under a canopy of clouds.

 

Meanwhile...

 

 

Life goes on-

surfers surf,

and birds scamper for their food,

while folks walk or ride their bikes or swim,

oblivious to the special moment that is paramount to the people attending,

especially, one could hope, to the hapless couple!

 

 

All best to one and all!

 

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, Anastasia State Park, September 12th, 2015.

 

 

 

 

Related articles

When Worlds Collide, or Pass Like Ships in the Night, or Day...

With or Without Us...

 

 

Isn't it wonderful

that no matter how busy we are

with our very important lives,

nature carries on,

with or without us!

 

There go the sea oats again,

from green to golden,

to brown,

to gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anastasia Island State Park, Sea Oats in Golden phase, yesterday.

 

 

Related articles

In A Hurry?

Remember that storm cloud?

 

 

Well, not having mastered the art of stitching photos together,

I still had to share this imperfect attempt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, Anastasia Island State Park.

 

High Drama

 

It's great when the drama in your life is in the sky!

Saturday's afternoon thunder storm literally rolled in on a wave of air.

 

 

 

 

The wind was rearranging these clouds so fast,

and then the rain came and it came BIG!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, Anastasia State Park, Storm TIme!

 

 

The Sun and The Moon...

 

 

The sun setting and the moon rising...

 

 

Everything back in place for now!

 

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, March 4th, 2015.

 

 

Sail Away...

 

 

A voyage begins...

 

If the sun keeps his promise,

there will be turquoise water on these pages soon...

 

(Are we excited?)

 

(Oh Yeah!)

 

 

Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

The turquoise water of Alexander Springs, Florida.

 

 

 

PEACE...

 

 

Peace Rose.

 

 

 

 

 

Pelicans Can...

 

 

The conga line, so fun to watch,

as the pelicans surf through wave after wave after wave,

on their way to where?

 

The next wave, the next fish, a good night's sleep?

Who really knows?

 

But these playful birds are definitely onto something!

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach.

 

Burden of Joy

 

 

Is this oak tree burdened by the spanish moss?

 

If you really pay attention to your life,

then you recognize that your burdens are connected to your joys.

 

All you have to do is remember where the love is.

 

And that gets easier and easier,

when you realize that your love

is everywhere! 

 

 

 

 

Blue Spring State Park, Florida

Reprinted (and rewritten!) from Laine's Blog, August 2012, with permission.

 

Vacating...

 

 

Where's Laine?

 

I don't know.

 

Maybe she's hungry.

 

Did you say Hungary?

 

No, I said hungry.

 

Oh. Why?

 

I don't know!

 

 

 

 

Laine's Blog will be shaken and stirred for the next couple of weeks, with some help from guest blogger, Sue Harrison and some repeats from the archives. Have a great few weeks and be back before you know it!

 

 

How To Walk In The Mud

 

There comes some mud in everyone's life that you have to go through,

whether it's an awkward situation that you wish hadn't happened,

or something that you must do,

that you'd rather not.

 

It helps to take yourself lightly,

not so seriously,

get through it as gracefully as possible,

dust yourself off,

and carry on.

 

 

 

 

Or in this case,

rinse yourself off

and carry on!

 

(Wings help too!)

 

 

Egret and Heron walking in the shallows at Wakulla Springs State Park, ©2007.

Borrowed and added onto from LainesBlog, August 2013. Used with permission!

 

Related articles

More Egrets...Regrets...or An Entire Novel.

Reflections

Great Blue Heron: Patient, Prompt, and (Rarely) Pugnacious

After The Rain

 

 

After a rainy, chilly Saturday,

the sun is deciding whether or not to come out

just before it sets.

 

It did,

and the clouds moved on,

and Sunday was a beautiful warm sunny day!

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, Anastasia Island State Park.

 

 

 

Again!

 

The first blossom on Easter morning...

 

 

 

Four days later - a full bouquet!

 

 

 

Once it gets started,

it doesn't stop!

 

 

 

 

The Same River

 

 

 

There is a saying that you can't put your foot in the same river twice,

because the river is constantly moving, constantly changing.

 

Our days are like that too,

if we let them be.

 

 

 Guana Tolomato State Park, St. Augustine, Florida.

From the archives, January 2013.

Thanksgiving

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This post is recycled from 2011, with a few changes, but all in all the gratitude is still the same!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

Surf's Up!

 

 

Never too gnarly for these avian surfers,

and always a joy to behold.

 

 

 

 

 

More wind in St. Augustine with the Brown Pelicans making the best of it.

 

Hovering Clouds

 

 

Hovering clouds,

here one day and gone the next.

Sunshine follows,

almost

 always.

 

 

 

 

 

Just In Case...

 

 

In case we need to be reminded

that we live in a beautiful world,

rainbows appear

when we least expect them!

 

 

 

 

Looking over Moultrie Creek toward St. Augustine South from Vaill Point, the shard of a rainbow is reflected in the still water.

 

 

 

 

500

 

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!