Laine's Blog, Thinking Out Loud

This is Dedicated to...

 

 

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

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

 

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

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

Good Morning

 

 

Good morning, Glory!

 

 

From the Archives, May, 2012.

 

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.

 

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

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

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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

 

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

The Hollow Log

 

 

The sun is shining in a break

in this long hollow log,

giving life to any number of creatures

and green living things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fallen Oak, Wolfe Laurel, North Carolina.

© 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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frozen Fog!

 

 

On top of the mountain

the frozen fog

persists!

 

 

 

 

Bald Mountain, at the Appalachian Trail, with a view of 5 different ranges and frozen fog clinging to the branches.

© Laine Quinn 2018.

I'd Forgotten...

 

 

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.

Original Simplicity...

 

 

Breathe

Walk

Smile

 

                                                         Thich Nhat Hanh

 

Back to basics,

one of my first teachers'

best advice.

 

 

 

 

Sunset, Moultrie Creek, from Vaill Point.

 

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.

 

 

Beauty...

 

Let the beauty that you love

be what you do.

 

                                              Rumi

 

 

 

An Interesting Bumper Sticker...

 

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 Is...

 

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.

 

Stuck In The Middle!

 

 

Rain to the left of me,

Rain to the right,

here I am,

stuck in the middle

with a view!

 

 

 

 

More from the Crescent Beach storm, 7.10.2017. That's the shrimp boat on the horizon!

In Between

 

 

In between the sky and the sea.

Rain clouds closing in from the south and the north.

Whenever a boat takes to the water,

there is a story to tell.

 

Storms, sea creatures,

and the one that got away.

There is always a story!

 

 

 

Crescent Beach, storms brushing by and a shrimp boat minding it's own business. 7.10.2017.

 

Lucky...

 

 

Lucky shot!

or

The Visitor.

 

 

 

 

 

Pipe Vine

 

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

Swallowtail Butterfly!

 

 

 

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.