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!
Backyard Buddha, with 2 lizards! © Laine Quinn 2019
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.
A fallen blossom
Is coming back to the branch.
Look, a butterfly!
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.
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.
While our Castillo de San Marcos was closed
during the government shutdown,
these wonderful re-exactors,
(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 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
The brightest moon went dark last night...
© Laine Quinn, Eclipse, January 20th, 2019. St. Augustine Florida
The crowds are gone,
town is quiet,
for awhile!
Old Town, © Laine Quinn, 2019, Gaufre's Restaurant.
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
This is nothing like watching the Moon rising over the ocean in person,
but it's all I got!
It was truly breathtaking!
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
It sometimes pours!
St. George Street, Grover's Gallery, and Victoria's Vintage photos, St. Augustine, last Friday!
© Laine Quinn 2018
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
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
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..
An affair of the heart and soul...
Where waves crash
hearts are mended.
St. Augustine Beach, June 2018. © Laine Quinn 2018
Frog eggs!
Day 2, the little dots will soon be tiny tadpoles!
How life begins, began, begun! © Laine Quinn 2018
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
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.)
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, 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 everyone!!!
Stay Safe and Strong!
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.
Every day the sun rises,
whether we see it or not,
the rotation of the earth allows for one sunrise and one sunset a day.
On the International Space Station the sun rises and sets about 15 times a day!
It's a shift in perspective,
a way different point of view!
St. Augustine Beach sunrise, last month, 2017.
Let the beauty that you love
be what you do.
Rumi
This was spotted on my way home from the beach yesterday evening...
My life is better than your vacation.
So, assuming a lot, like if any of that is true,
would you be the "My" in that sentence, or the "Your"?
Maybe a little bit of both, I hope!
The thing about evacuating ahead of a powerful, deadly storm, that may or may not be a direct hit on your world, is that you say
"goodbye" to your life, your things and your home,
not knowing what you will find when you return.
Here in St. Augustine, most of us have been lucky -
loss of power means everything in the refrigerator and freezer must be thrown away.
Tons of debris from the trees and the mighty winds that must be cleaned up.
Days of work lost.
Lucky to be sure.
Some have lost all.
It puts things into perspective, though, saying goodbye to your physical world.
You know first hand what is really important in your world,
and it can be summed up in one word-
LOVE.
We are lucky, those of us who can feel the love,
lucky indeed.
Crescent Beach, not a Hurricane! July 11, 2017.
A Beautiful sunny holiday.
Lots of families out to enjoy the beach,
playing, fishing, reading in the sun.
An overheard conversation about Hurricane Harvey -
on people's minds -
and another Hurricane barrelling toward the islands.
But life must go on, if we are to make sense of any of it.
Compassion and worry are alive, but so are joy and happiness.
Enjoy the moments!
Labor Day, Porpoise Point, St. Augustine, Florida, 2017
Zora Neale Hurston: Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)