Hibiscus, the state flower of Hawaii was once commonly called good night at noon
because it blossoms for only a short time!
I like that, "good night at noon!"
Some days are like that.
From the book Garden Flower Folklore by Laura C. Martin
Blog post from Laine's Blog, May 2012, with permission!
©Laine Quinn 2023
Love is why we came here
To learn how to love
Everything
Everyone
All the time
It's a lot to learn
But worth the effort
"...flowering plants were revolutionary in their appearance on the earth
some two hundred million years ago,
are dominant on land from the arctic to the tropics,
and are crucial to our survival."
Since reading those lines in Rebecca Solnit's book, Orwell's Roses,
I haven't been able to look at a flower without a deep sense of wonder
and gratitude!
Without flowers and their seeds,
birds and humans would not have evolved.
Period!
Without flowers and their seeds,
birds and humans would disappear from the earth.
Amen!
Quote from Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit
Flowers from Baltimore and St. Augustine, Mums, Lilies, Hibiscus
©LaineQuinn 2022
Grateful for all the people who have come and gone in my life
and helped me to become the person I am today -
for better or worse!
Grateful for all the things that are going right in my world -
and there are many.
Grateful as always for the sun and moon and stars,
for blue skies and rain and trees and flowers.
We are all made of the same star stuff -
the same stuff.
All one.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Sunrise, St Augustine Beach
©LaineQuinn2021
Just because light and color conspired to spread joy!
Reprinted from Laine's Blog November 2020 with added photo!
©LaineQuinn2021
Shamrocks seed themselves
all over St. Augustine.
Wild?
I think so!
Delightful?
Definitely!
Lucky?
Let's hope!
Violets too, much to my delight!
©2021 Laine Quinn, backyard shamrocks.
Keep it Kind
and
Patient
and
Heartfelt
and
Simple
and
Sweet!
The butterfly counts not months but moments,
and has time enough.
Rabindranath Tagore
(Dragonflies too!)
Quotation is from the front of the book,"World of Wonders" by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
I haven't read it yet, but soon will, there is time enough!
Merry Merry, Happy Happy!
It's that time of year -
in a very odd year _
when emotions are raw and memories haunt you.
Riding waves of feelings,
not knowing where they come from,
or why,
or how long,
you hang on.
Storms come and they go,
and you hang on.
You hang on.
And they go.
Life is still life -
imperfectly perfect.
Stay safe,
and patient
and perfect.
©2020 Laine Quinn
Just because light and color conspired to spread joy!
Collectively it is time that we imagine a better world.
No matter what happens in the next months or years,
it is time to put our minds on better things.
Call it the power of positive thinking,
of visualizing,
of collective prayer -
it all works and can change the world.
Psychopathic leaders of politics and industry - be warned -
it is time for the Human takeover of our world.
Time to imagine a world where we live harmoniously with the earth,
harmoniously with each other - near and far,
harmoniously with all creatures -great and small.
A world in partnership.
A world of compassion and love and generosity.
If it fits in your mind,
it fits in your world.
We are more than what we can imagine.
Collectively it's time to imagine
what comes after -
to dream big and have faith in the human heart,
in the human desire for connection.
Photos of our Beautiful Planet in the days ahead.
Humans are hardwired for kindness and cooperation.
That's how we've gotten this far.
That's how we will go even farther.
As far as we can imagine!
Kindness.
Compassion.
Empathy.
Generosity.
We take good care of each other.
Let's be patient and trusting -
Like the good earth that we share.
Shadow and light on the beautiful leaves of the White Bird of Paradise.
©2020 Laine Quinn
My, oh my! What more
Can I say; seeing lilies
On the peaceful walk?
Surprise lilies in the neighborhood!
©2020Laine Quinn
SPRING!
Ignoring world events -
has sprung!
Red Hibiscus, coming through the slats.
©2020 Laine Quinn
...It''s about my journey going from a liberal civil rights lawyer
who was tinkering with the machine,
and believed that we could somehow get the to the Promised Land
if we just filed the next best lawsuit,
or met the the governor,
or organize the right number of people for the next protest,
to someone who now believes that much more revolutionary change is required,
and it's not simply a political revolution.
A moral and spiritual revolution is also required of us now.
This is what is required of us to begin to treat each person decently,
with respect and love
and by extension,
the earth and all aboard her.
*(Author of "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness",
talking about her new book.)
Photo of Tropical Day Flower and Dragonfly, ©2013 Laine Quinn
Taken at Longwood Gardens, in Delaware.
While burning a few things on the deck in the chiminnea,
I noticed these caterpillars munching away on the Butterfly Weed.
It was over a month ago. There were about 10 or 12 of them, and they decimated that plant.
Then yesterday,
while leaning over the rail to reach a hanging pot I spied this little one in the same area.
She is no bigger than the joint of my thumb.
Will she emerge from her cocoon?
We will have to wait and see.
I brought her indoors, as the temperature was dropping.
There is so much hidden in plain sight that we never even notice.
It was chance that led me to the caterpillars and the butterfly.
Look at the little bugs on the left.
I didn't even see them until I blew the photo up!
Garden Joy! February in Florida, annuals to plant!
©2020 Laine Quinn
"...a soulful ecology is rooted in the feeling that this world is our home
and that our responsibility to it comes not from obligation
or logic, but from true affection.
...As long as the heart is involved, care of the place will follow."
Thomas Moore, Care of The Soul
The thing to understand is that this in not your fault or my fault
because we didn't recycle enough or we use too much plastic,
or we believed that Round Up was safe.
The problem is institutionalized.
From the auto industry to plastics manufacturing,
oil producers have held sway over these industries for a century.
Chemical companies have been spreading their propaganda since WWII.
And governments have been holding their hands ever since
and silencing concerned voices.
There are little things that we can do in our lives and homes.
And lots of little things add up.
More later!
Home sweet Home! The cat, the hammock, and the flowers are still with me in my new home!
Whenever I see a line of pelicans coming along the beach, over the waves,
their wingtips just grazing the water, I get a little bit jealous of how simple
their life appears to be.
It seems that the creatures of this world are better at meeting their daily needs
than the oh so intelligent higher mammals who actually destroy or poison
the very things that support them.
From now on, my blog is dedicated to our home planet,
the lifeboat that we - all of us - are sailing on through space.
I am joining the chorus of concerned citizens of Mother Earth
to do my small part to alleviate the pressure of too many years
of human recklessness that has threatened our time here.
My first step is appreciation, and gratitude for the beautiful world we still live in.
The wonderful old oak trees in my neighborhood, and just last week, the hungry caterpillar on the butterfly weed,
and of course the beaches and all the life bursting there, the birds and fishes and dolphins.
A heartfelt appreciation and gratitude.
Bowing in humility before the multiplicity of life, here on planet Earth.
Brown Pelicans doing what they do as they surf along the waves at St. Augustine Beach.
©LaineQuinn 2020
Good morning, Glory!
From the Archives, May, 2012.
I'd almost forgotten that daffodils were my Mom's favorite flower.
She'd be 100 this year,
if she had survived her difficult challenges -
impending divorce, depression, alcoholism.
Back in the 70's it was all behind closed doors.
I'll never know her as a wise old woman,
but as a woman,
who loved the ocean,
daffodils,
and her home.
I'd almost forgotten about the daffodils,
but then
I didn't
forget.
For my mom, Nancy T. Quinn, born April 12, 1918.
The daffodils are from my recent trip to the mountains in North Carolina, and yes, it snowed! And the daffodils bounced back by the afternoon! © Laine Quinn 2018.
Lucky shot!
or
The Visitor.
I thought this might be the flower of the eggplant, because of the color,
but it turned out to be a Pipe Vine,
which is host to a certain caterpillar,
which turns into a beautiful
I will let you know if we get the butterflies!
After last night's rain, the larger caterpillars are missing in action.
But there are still some little ones.
Happy Flowers!
Laine's Orchid and daisy!
Hibiscus and Morning Glory on a morning bike ride through the neighborhood.
So many beautiful flowers blooming these days
and wonderful scents...
Ginger, Magnolia, Jasmine...
Hmmmmmmmm...
Here today...
gone tomorrow.
Deck flowers, April colors, 2017.
The blue Hydrangea,
on a summer's evening,
the year of weddings and funerals.
Reprinted from January, 2016, with permission!
Sunny Flowers!
When visiting a "Foreign" country,
and you see familiar things,
it brings home closer
and strangers become friends.
Holloku, Hungary, which is a very very old town situated in rolling hills that reminded me of Maryland or Virginia! Familiar flowers and great food and company!
September, 2014.
Wouldn't it be great
if,
everyday
you realized that you are bursting with life?
That the packet of your body is loaded with energy,
and beauty and love and trust
and an unstoppable urge
to be alive
and
well
and
happy?
Watch out world!
From Laine's Blog, April 7th, 2013
Life keeps coming!
Birds making nests,
leaves coming on the trees,
flowers everywhere,
and best of all,
babies being born!
Looks like a lot of optimism to me!
Angel's Trumpet in the neighbors yard!
Do flowers ever experience anxiety?
Well, probably not the poppy!
(or would it be just the opposite?)
Nahhhh.
Poppy field of one on my deck!
That I love!
Hammock. Amaryllis. Cat.
Deck.
It's a good life.
Shot through the screen door, 4/21/16.
These I miss,
and the daffodils and the crocus and snowdrops.
Tulips at Mount Vernon Place, May 2013.