Laine's Blog, Thinking Out Loud

Grateful...

 

From the book of poems, BLUE HORSES by Mary Oliver

 

...Bless the words with which I try to say

what I see, think, or feel.

With gratitude for the grace of the earth.

The expected and the exception, both.

For all the hours I have been given to

be in this world.

 

The multiplicity of forms! The hummingbird,

the fox, the raven, the sparrow hawk, the

otter, the dragonfly, the water lily! And

on and on. It must be a great disappointment

to God if we are not dazzled at least ten

times a day.

...

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

 

 

From the poem Good morning

Egret at the inlet taking flight! ©2019 Laine Quinn

 

The Long Journey Begins

 

Just before the Hurricane,

this little one emerges.

She's on her way to the turbulent waves.

 

We on the shore want so badly to help,

but we know better and walk beside her,

well meaning, helpless, guardians,

until a wave envelopes her -

back and forth

and she is gone

on her long journey

to everywhere.

 

 

 

Baby Turtle, September 1, 2019. The lifeguards assured me that she would make it!

© Laine Quinn 2019

Let Them Go to Mars...

 

 

The American Experiment has never lived up to its promise

of self-government and Liberty and Justice for All.

From the start it was non-inclusive, predatory and rigged

in favor of the "ruling class", the so called "people".

But this doesn't mean that a course correction wouldn't change things for the better.

 

America, (which has never been great, truth be told) can be good.

The promise is there and the vision is there and the American People

are good people.

Corporations are not people and have not been good for the people for some time.

Greed is not pretty, not for Americans or for the planet.

 

Have we reached the pinnacle of American Greed?

Let them go to Mars.

Let's stay here and take care of our own beautiful ailing planet.

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the political post, it has been brewing for awhile.

©2019 Laine Quinn Flag at the Oldest Wooden School House in St. Augustine Florida.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflections...

 

 

A serene scene for anxious times...

Mother Nature hasn't given up on us yet.

 

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, 9.11.19 ©Laine Quinn

What we can do to support the climate strike on Friday, the 20th of September-

Don't buy anything on line that has to be delivered to your home, buy local.

Don't throw away any plastic at all for that day.

Drive as little as possible.

Be kind!

 

 

The Nursery...

 

 

The seed factory in a Sago Palm brings to mind part of a quote from Kahlil Gibran,

...life's longing for itself.

 

Isn't that how this gorgeous planet evolved,

one seedling at a time?

 

 

 

 

© 2019 Laine Quinn Sago Drama!

 

The Sea Oats

 

The sea oats are green again,

beginning their cycle from spring to fall to winter...

 

 

Living in Florida, it's easy to forget what season it is,

but there are ways of being reminded,

and the sea oats jarred me out of late summer to early summer,

right where we are!

 

 

 

Shooting with my phone, I couldn't see the screen and only hoped that I had gotten the line of pelicans in the shot!

©2019, Laine Quinn St. Augustine Beach

Strawberry Moon...

 

 

Through the trees...

 

 

 

 

 

June 17th Full moon!

©Laine Quinn 2019

 

 

The Tree Of Life...

 

Tree of Life,

 

re-imagined at Disney Park, Animal Kingdom.

Look closely at the life carved into this man-made tree.

 

Real trees have even more mysteries and secrets,

kept over the centuries and passed down the generations.

 

 

 

 

 

©Laine Quinn 2019, Disney's Pandora Tree of Life. Possibly Ostrich in the foreground!

Tickling the Buddha...

 

 

 

 

Backyard Buddha, with 2 lizards! © Laine Quinn 2019

Disney, Animal Kingdom...

 

Disney = long lines and sore feet and exhaustion!

BUT...

the Avatar ride in Pandora was worth it all!

You are gliding on a Banshee through the Fantastic Pandora landscape,

even though you never leave your seat,

you duck and lean to avoid hitting branches and arches and going into the ocean!

 

WILD!

 

A giant plant, along the 3 hour walk to the ride!

Very well thought out exhibit!

 

 

© Laine Quinn 2019.

Earth Day and Poetry

 

 

A fallen blossom

Is coming back to the branch.

Look, a butterfly!

 

                                                                                by Moritake (1473-1549)

 

Happy Earth Day!!!

Of course, everyday is Earth Day!

And since April is National Poetry Month,

here is a Haiku from a book I have had with me all of my adult life,

One Hundred Famous Haiku

Selected and translated into English by

Daniel C. Buchanan

It is divided by season.

This is one for Spring.

 

 

 

Butterfly shot at the Key West Butterfly And Nature Conservancy, © Laine Quinn 2008.

Treasure Found...

 

Many years ago I began a novel by Zora Neale Hurston and couldn't find the rhythm of her words

and abandoned the effort.

About a month ago I picked up her autobiography, "Dust Tracks on a Road" at our local Library and was blown away.

 

Here is a writer with an understanding of life and love and the world, with a truly unique view into the cosmos,

that rivals the greatest poets.

 

Ms. Hurston can lift you up and encourage you to get on with it, no matter what,

because this is a BIG Beautiful Life!

 

She hears the wisdom of the trees and understands that we are all ONE

and that one day our bodies will join the earth and the earth will fall into the sun

and the sun will implode into the universe

and we are ALL a part of that.

That is where we came from and that is where we will go.

 

 

"Dust Tracks" was written in 1941, before Stephen Hawking came up with the Big Bang Theory,

before the Hubble Telescope,

and before researchers confirmed that trees are actually communicating with one another (and with Ms. Hurston.)

 

Since reading her autobiography, I have read "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

and found the rhythm of her dialogue and loved every word.

 

Zora, ( I can call her that because she wants us all to be "kissing friends" so that we can cultivate peace in the world),

is a treasure I have discovered late in life and am ever grateful that I did.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo from Astronomy Picture of the Day, (APOD) by Coles and Helm. ©2015.

 

Spanish Soldiers

 

 

While our Castillo de San Marcos was closed

during the government shutdown,

these wonderful re-enactors,

(volunteers all,)

took to the streets.

 

Here they are in our temporary gallery on Aviles Street.

 

 

 

We thank them for helping to authenticate the experience of 17th and 18th centuries Spanish Soldier's life in the fort.

© Laine Quinn 2019

The Gallery Group will stage a "POP UP" show every first Friday weekend.

March to be announced!

All Is Well...

 

 

All is right with the world

on an evening like this,

after a cloudy day,

all is well.

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine harbor, leading out to the inlet, almost sunset. © Laine Quinn 2019

Total Eclipse...

 

 

The brightest moon went dark last night...

 

 

 

© Laine Quinn, Eclipse, January 20th, 2019. St. Augustine Florida

Your Table is Waiting!

 

 

The crowds are gone,

town is quiet,

for awhile!

 

 

 

Old Town, © Laine Quinn, 2019, Gaufre's Restaurant.

St. Augustine Weather...

 

 

Hot and humid one day, foggy the next, rain and then cold after that...

That's our winter,

here in St. Augustine,

warm again now,

in the 70's all week!

 

Not too shabby!

 

 

 

Porpoise Point, Vilano Beach, December 30th, 2018.

©Laine Quinn

 

 

Progression of the Full Moon Rising...

 

 

 

This is nothing like watching the Moon rising over the ocean in person,

but it's all I got!

It was truly breathtaking!

 

 

Full Moon Rising...

 

 

A perfect full moon, coming up over the horizon.

 

Nothing marks the daily passage of time so acutely as the phases of the moon.

Four clear beautiful nights (and sunny days) at the beach,

and she's practically at half mast when it is time to go home.

On cloudy days, we are clueless that time is marching on so relentlessly.

 

So, another year ends and another begins and on and on and on!

 

We live on a tiny planet that will one day be gone too,

so live it up and have a

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

 

Full moon, December 22nd, 2018. Crescent Beach.

© Laine Quinn 2018

An Old Favorite...MOM?

 

 

  That's not Mom.                                                (Why are they staring at me?) 

        Are you sure?            

  It's not Mom.                                     (Hey, guys, I didn't do it, whatever it is,

        No, too tall, I guess.                                              I didn't do it, okay?)          

 

         Mom?                                                   (Why are they standing so close?)

 

   It's not Mom.

 

 

 

When It Rains...

 

It sometimes pours!

 

 

 

 

 

St. George Street, Grover's Gallery, and Victoria's Vintage photos, St. Augustine, last Friday!

© Laine Quinn 2018

Summertime...

 

Calm mornings at the beach...

 

The sea oats are already turning from green to gold to brown,

about to drop their seeds for next spring.

 

A Poem

 

Walking down my stairs,

I see a lizard.

It turns and looks at me,

tilting her head!

 

I wonder,

WHAT does she see?

 

                              By Me

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, © Laine Quinn

 

"Hello!"

 

Do you come here often?

 

Nice view, hey?

What's your sign?

Do I know you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pigeons on top of the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse, St. Augustine, Florida.

©Laine Quinn 2018

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..

 

 

 

 

 

It's a Love Story...

 

An affair of the heart and soul...

 

 

Where waves crash

hearts are mended.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, June 2018. © Laine Quinn 2018

The Stuff Of Life...

 

Frog eggs!

Day 2, the little dots will soon be tiny tadpoles!

 

 

 

How life begins, began, begun! © Laine Quinn 2018

Determination...

 

 

This little seedling rooted itself in the crack of my deck table.

That's how all of the forests began...

one seedling at a time.

 

 

 

 

"Life's longing for itself."

© Laine Quinn, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silhouette...

 

 

A trick of the eye...

how close are they to the crashing waves?

 

No photographic tricks,

just a matter of perspective.

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, © Laine Quinn, 2018

(Zooming in with the phone, poor quality.)

That Moment Thing...AGAIN!

 

Stop worrying,

be here now,

or the days will slip away

in the river of time,

and THIS is all we have,

This

NOW.

 

 

 

 

Just trying to take my own advice as I ponder the reflections at Moultrie Creek, 2.02.2018.

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.